Domain Registration Policy

The LK Domain Registry is the National body which registers domain names ending in .LK, .ලංකා and .இலங்கை. The Registry has formulated policies with regard to the .LK domain name space, which govern the registration, maintenance, and other operations of .LK domain names.

This document sets out the Policy relating to .LK domain names.

NAME REGISTRATION POLICY

Domain Names may only be used for legitimate purposes under the Laws of Sri Lanka, and in accordance with LK Domain Registry Policies and therefore it will not be used *in illegal or *unethical activities or *on infringing others’ trademarks, copyrights etc *. Else they may be de-registered.

  • Domain names are, in general, registered to organizations (Statutory bodies, Corporations, firms and Associations etc.). However, individuals may also register names.
  • The following names will not be registered under .LK:
    • If the name implies patronage of the President of Sri Lanka or any connection with the Government or any Government Ministry, 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.
    • Personal names.
    • Personal names may be registered for those who need to use their name with regard to their profession such as Professionals, artists, political candidates.
    • Country names.
    • Names of Towns, Provinces and abbreviations and codes thereof. (e.g. colombo.lk, western.lk, cmb.lk)
    • Names that are offensive, obscene, or grossly misleading to any accepted religion, gender, race, culture, or tradition of Sri Lanka.
    • Names denoting Internet Services (e.g. internet.lk, mail.lk, www.lk, web.lk, ftp.lk, etc.)
    • Sports: The relevant authorized body/Ministry will only be allowed to register.
    • Names which indicate an activity for which a Government License is required. In such instances the name will be allowed on production of the license (banking, insurance, liquor, gambling)
    • Names which 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 that may confuse or grossly mislead the public.
    • Any name which may infringe on the rights of another person or organisation.
    • Names which may not be conducive to the public interest.
    • Names which start with “xn –“.
    • Names which consist of a single character.

Exceptions:

It may be possible to register some domains names which are not permissible under .LK, under open second level domains. Domains in the above categories may also be registered to organizations or associations that represent the relevant industry as a whole. Domains may also be registered by adding a prefix or suffix (e.g. e-) to a generic name.

  • Names should comprise only letters a-z, (no distinction between uppercase and lowercase characters), digits 0-9 and hyphens (-).
  • Names should not begin or end in a hyphen.
  • Names with hyphens will be regarded as separate entities. (i.e. abc-def.lk and abcdef.lk will be two separate domains)
  • Similar rules will apply for Sinhala and Tamil domain names.
    • IDN domains can be requested under the Sinhala (.ලංකා) and Tamil (.இலங்கை. )
    • The requested domain name should consists only the characters given in the relevant IDN language tables for ලංකා and .இலங்கை.
    • It cannot be a combination of English and IDN characters.
    • The domain string must contain at least two letters.
    • The name should consist of valid Unicode code points.
    • The name should comply with the linguistic rules of the respective language. However, it need not comply with the spelling rules.
    • Further information is available at https://www.domains.lk/idn-policy/

Any name for which the Hostmaster has any doubt with regard to its suitability will be reviewed by the Management of LK Domain Registry. Such decision may be based on additional factors, other than those given above. The decision will be generally taken within three (03) working days.


DOMAIN REGISTRATION INFORMATION POLICY

The REGISTRANT and the ORGANISATION should reflect the actual Person / Organisation using the domain.

  • The “REGISTRANT” is the official trademark owner or/and the highest authority with regard to the domain name. If the domain is used by a website, the REGISTRANT should be the contact person of the organisation shown in the website. The REGISTRANT may be the same as the administrator (ADMIN). However, in some circumstances, the REGISTRANT may designate another individual or company to be responsible for the maintenance of the domain name, who should be designated the ADMIN. The name of the REGISTRANT, Email Address, NIC/Passport/Driving License number and Contact Number must be kept up-to-date at all times.
  • The ORGANIZATION would be the REGISTRANT’s Organization, which is legally responsible for using the domain name and for the content of the website/email. The name of the Organization, Business Registration Number, Business Address and Contact Number must be given with the domain request.
  • ADMIN contact information: The domain name administrator is the person who will have full authority to request and authorize necessary decisions and updates on behalf of the domain REGISTRANT, including contact information and name server information, for the chosen domain name. The administrator may be the REGISTRANT of the domain name or the representative of the REGISTRANT. If there is a dispute, only the REGISTRANT of the domain can override the ADMIN’s decisions.
  • TECHNICAL contact information: The technical contact has the authority to update name server information and attend to the technical administration of the domain files on the server.
  • BILLING contact information: The billing contact is the person or role named to be responsible for paying registration and renewal fees for a domain name. A billing contact has no authority to make changes or updates to a domain name.

Note:

  • If the domain is being requested on behalf of a customer, then the ORGANISATION should be that customer’s Company/ Institute/ ORGANISATION, and the REGISTRANT should be the contact person from the given ORGANISATION.
  • More than one domain name can be included in a single order. However, orders which have more than one domain name will initially be processed with one REGISTRANT, ADMIN, TECHNICAL, BILLING and ORGANIZATION details. If necessary, the correct details of REGISTRANT, TECHNICAL, BILLING, can be updated via My Domains.

The REGISTRANT is responsible for keeping the domain-related information correct and up to date. If not, the domain will be suspended or de-registered.


DOMAIN NAME DISPUTE RESOLUTION POLICY

  • The LK Domain Registry shall not be involved in any dispute that the registrant may have with any third party. In case of a dispute the LK Domain Registry may suspend such a domain until the resolution of the dispute.
  • If the domain name has multiple IPR owners, by requesting the domain name the REGISTRANT/ ORGANISATION agrees, as part of their request for name registration, to indemnify and hold the LK Domain Registry clear of any and all costs, fees, and/or expenses arising from litigation involving trademark, trade name, service mark, and any other name infringement, or other reasons.
  • If the domain being registered contains someone else’s trademark and if the trademark owner successfully proves the claim of trademark infringement, the domain name would either be cancelled or transferred to the prevailing trademark owner. 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.

As part of the request for name registration, REGISTRANT agrees to indemnify and hold the LK Domain Registry clear of any and all costs, fees, and/or expenses arising from litigation involving trademark, trade name, service mark, and any other name infringements, or other reasons.


DOMAIN TRANSFER / RESELLING POLICY

Domains may not be sold nor offered for sale, and any such domain may be de-registered.

The REGISTRANT/ ORGANISATION has the right to use the domain name but does not own the domain name nor will the REGISTRANT/ ORGANISATION have the right to own it.

As such, the REGISTRANT/ ORGANISATION does not have the right to sell or transfer the domain name to any party whether for profit or otherwise. Where a REGISTRANT/ ORGANISATION is found to have breached this policy rule, the LK Domain Registry reserves the right to cancel/de-register the domain name.

Re-selling a domain by a REGISTRANT/ ORGANISATION is strictly prohibited and a REGISTRANT/ ORGANISATION shall not publish banners / advertisements with regard to selling/re-selling .LK domain(s).


POLICY ON SUSPENSION AND DE-REGISTRATION OF DOMAIN NAMES

A domain name may be suspended or de-registered by LK DOMAIN Registry if the registrant has breached any of LK Domain’s guidelines or agreements it has entered into with LK DOMAIN Registry.

Failure to make payments by the expiry date of the domain will also result in your services being suspended and then de-registered.

Email reminders will be sent to the BILLING contact of the domain before the expiry date of the domain name. A FINAL NOTICE will also be sent on the expiry date of the domain to all other contacts (REGISTRANT / ADMIN and TECHNICAL) in order to follow up with the BILLING Contact to make payments on time.

Once a domain is suspended, the category of the domain may change as and when required and it will be effective after the date of domain de-registration.

The Registry reserves the right to amend this policy, or make exceptions to the policy, from time to time. No such exception shall be binding on the Registry for other registrations.

 

 

******IMPORTANT NOTE******

No domain registration shall be deemed effective until the Registry accepts your application and activates your domain name registration or renewal. Submitting your application to the Registry, and the Registry accepting Fees for your application, by itself does not constitute a successfully registered application or renewal.

You acknowledge that the Registry can never guarantee, and is in no way responsible, that the domain name you are applying for is not being applied for by another party or that there are no inaccuracies in the Registry’s or other databases, that the search availability results are correct, or that there are errors, omissions, or inaccuracies that occur during the registration or renewal process which affect the result of your registration or renewal application.

You further acknowledge and agree that you are solely responsible for ensuring that your registration or renewal has been properly processed. The Registry may elect to accept or reject your application for registration or renewal at any time for any reason at its sole and absolute discretion, including, but not limited to, pricing errors, attempts to apply for domain names that are prohibited, improper, unavailable, infringe on 3rd party intellectual property or other rights, applications that are questionable or violate any other agreements or terms and conditions with the Company contained in the Registry or other agreements.