Policy for Registering Domain Names on the .LK Top Level Domain

The following is the current set policy for accepting applications for the registration of domains in the .lk domain.

• The domains will be registered on a first come first served basis.
• All applications must be forwarded with a clear justification for the reason of selecting the domain name. It should be accompanied with a declaration that the applicant is entitled to the name.

The following is a non-exhaustive list of common for selecting domain names.

• Trademark registered in Sri Lanka.
• Trademark used in Sri Lanka but not registered.
• Name assigned by statute, registered company name or business name (or part or abbreviation there of) (please provide the full registered name.)
• Name by which the organisation is commonly known.

1. Names should not include trademarks of other parties or words which are not permitted in business names, unless the applicant is legally entitled to use such words. Names which are offensive, obscene, or may confuse or grossly mislead the public, should not be selected.
   
   The following section describes the names that will not be allowed in the registry.
   
   
   • Any name which in the opinion of the Registrar suggests or is calculated to suggest, the patronage of the President or connection with the Government or any Government Department, Municipality or other Local Authority or with any society or body incorporated by an Act of Parliament, unless the applicant provides evidence that use of such name has been approved by the relevant Government Authority.
   • Top level domains (eg. com.lk, co.lk, org.lk, or.lk, net.lk, ne.lk, etc.. ) and proposed new Global Top Level Domains.
   • Towns, provinces and abbreviations there of. (eg. colombo.lk, kandy.lk, western.lk, cmb.lk, etc..)
   • Names that may be offensive, obscene, or grossly misleading to any accepted religion, race, culture or tradition of Sri Lanka.
   • Generic names. Some names considered generic are:
     
     
     • Professions (eg. lawyer.lk, doctor.lk, etc..)
     • Internet Services (eg. internet, mail.lk, www.lk, web.lk, ftp.lk, etc..)
     • Other generic terms...

They are not registered under .lk, but may be registered under open second levels or to organizations,or associations which represent the relevant industry as a whole. However,any generic name starts with "e " or "e-" could be accepted.

Eg: e 'generic'.lk or e-'generic'.lk

2. In some cases, where the Registry considers that a name may have multiple IPR owners, the applicant may be asked for a letter which agrees, as part of their request for name registration, to indemnify and hold the LK Domain Registry harmless from any and all costs, fees, expenses arising from litigation involving trademark, trade name, service mark, and any other name infringements, or other reasons (such a clause is already present in the application).
   
   
3. It is suggested that the domain name be the name or abbreviation by which the organisation is generally known, unless that name has been assigned to another organisation, or is commonly used by another organisation.
   
   
4. Names should be short (no more than 10 characters is recommended). Names should comprise only the letters a-z, the digits 0-9 and the dash -. Names should not begin or end in a dash. Names should not consist of a single character.
   
   
5. Names with hyphens will be regarded as separate entities. (i.e. abc-def.lk and abcdef.lk will be two separate domains)
   
   
6. Domain Names are, in general, registered to organisations (corporations, firms and associations) but may be registered to individuals for purposes similar to the following :
   

   Professionals

   Artistes

   Political Candidates - Letter signed by the candidate should be submitted.
   

7. Any names where the Hostmaster has any doubts on their suitability are referred to the domain review panel, consisting of persons with expertise and experience in the field. The panel is expected to send in their comments within three working days. The Domain Registrar will decide on the registration based on the majority views of the panel. If the panel is undecided, or irresolvable issues remain, or the applicant requests a re-review, the application is submitted to the Board for a final decision.
   
   
8. Administration Contacts should be from the Registrant of the Domain Name. Not from the Company who is handling the domain name or hosting the website! This is for the purpose of ensuring that the Registry can contact them if needed. For domains registered by agents, the Registry will generally communicate only with the agent.
   
   
9. All registrations under the top-level domain ensure that the domain name is blocked in all the open second levels provided the second level domain is available. If they wish to use the open second level domain names in addition to the top level domain, it can be done by configuring DNS entries for the open second level domain, but DNS for both top level and second level should be hosted on the same machine.

Note: There is no extra payment for such registration of a secondary level domain.



10. gov.lk has been allocated to the Government of Sri Lanka. Currently all .gov.lk domains are managed under the purview of Domain Convention Policy of ICTA.

    Provinces - wp.gov.lk, np.gov.lk, sp.gov.lk, nw.gov.lk, ep.gov.lk, cp.gov.lk, sg.gov.lk, up.gov.lk, ncp.gov.lk

    District Secretariat - dist.gov.lk

    Divisional Secretariat - ds.gov.lk

    Municipal Councils - mc.gov.lk

    Urban Councils - uc.gov.lk

    Pradeshiya Sabha - ps.gov.lk

    SL Missions Abroad - mission.gov.lk

11. Presently there is no local presence requirement. Therefore, the foreign companies who don't have a local presence can REGISTER their Top Level and corresponding Open Second Level Domains.
    
    
12. A facility called PARKING has been introduced for domain names which have been registered but are not renewed on time. The existing server details of the particular domain name are removed temporarily and pointed to LK Domain Registry/LANKAHOST Web Hosting servers so that when a person browses the particular web address., he will be directed to a web page which says that the domain name has been temporarily disconnected.
    
    The original registrant may reactivate the domain name during the parking period by settling all the outstanding dues. Otherwise, the domain name will be deleted after a reasonable time decide by the Registry.
    


13. LK Domain Registry has decided to introduce a web based method of accepting requests for an expired domain name only during the period in which the domain name is PARKED. All parked domain names will be listed on a web page, and interested parties may request the domain name in case the original registrant does not renew it.
    
    As per our normal procedure domain names may be re-categorised into CAT 4 (Rs. 25,000) or CAT 5 (Rs. 10,000), or remain in CAT 1/2 (5,000/3,000) before being listed on the "parked" page. The category of each name will also be shown on the page.
    
    At the expiry of the parking period:
    
    
    
    • If no requests have been received, release the name into the "unregistered" pool.
    • If only one request has been received register the name to that applicant.
    • If more than one request has been received for the same domain name, Request all such parties to submit bids for the domain name in a closed tender procedure, where the minimum bid price will be decided by the LK Domain Registry (usually Rs. 25,000)