.by

Infobox Top level domain
name=.by
background=#CCF


introduced=1994
type=Country code top-level domain
status=Active
registry=State Center of the Information Security of the President of the Republic of Belarus
sponsor=State Center of the Information Security of the President of the Republic of Belarus
intendeduse=Entities connected with flag|Belarus
actualuse=Popular in Belarus and German Bavaria
restrictions=Limited to Belarus residents; third-level subdomains have specific restrictions
structure=Second-level registrations are available, as well as third-level names beneath some second-level labels
document=
disputepolicy=
website= [http://www.tld.by/ tld.by] |

.by is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Belarus. It is administered by the State Center of the Information Security of the President of the Republic of Belarus (Государственный центр безопасности информации при Президенте Республики Беларусь). The code "BY" originates from an alternative spelling of Belarus, Byelorussia, which was used during their inclusion in the Soviet Union. The ccTLD was created for Belarus on May 11, 1994 and replaces the Soviet domain of .su.

Eligibility

The State Center of the Information Security of the President of the Republic of Belarus allows for anyone who resides in Belarus to register a second level domain, such as foo.by. However, third level domains such as something.gov.by and something.mil.by are only offered to those who are government officials. The names that are chosen for the second level domains must not conflict with those already registered or well known companies. The names also must have two or more Latin characters and it cannot either start or finish with a hyphen (-). Second level names that might have words or phrases that deem to be vulgar or illegal can also be rejected by the SCIS.

Fees

The costs to use a .by domain is a 70 USD fee for the first year and second payment of 50 USD to maintain the domain. The renewal of the domain occurs yearly. The payment of the fees occur by bank transfer.

External links

* [http://tld.by/ SCIS homepage]
* [http://www.iana.org/root-whois/by.htm IANA .by whois information]
* [http://www.tld.by/ruleseng_new.html SCIS rules on the use of .by]