What will happen with the .ly domains in the future? From Jerry Brito's post, If Libya Falls, What Happens to All Those Twitter bit.ly Links?:
The more profound question, however, is what influence could a potential new Libyan government have over the domains?
As it turns out, a lot. Unlike generic top-level domains (.com, .net, .org, etc.) that are controlled by independent nonprofit organizations, country codes are generally controlled by national governments. This means the government can boot off any registered domain name it wishes. Last year, the Libyan government seized the domain name vb.ly, which was a link shortening service run by sex blogger Violet Blue. (Techland.Time.com, February 23, 2011.)
In the news:
- Is using an .ly domain right - or wrong? By Violet Blue - Tech Broiler, ZDNet.
- Libyan protests driven by '.ly' websites. Channel 4 News.
- Qaddafi Controls the Internet? Well, not exactly -- but he is involved with Twitter. By Kelly Jane Torrance - The Weekly Standard.
- Bomb Libya by Michael Ledeen - Pajamas Media.
Muammar Gaddafi
UPDATE: From John Cox's post, Gadhafi Caricature Gets Around:
There you go, ladies and gentlemen, as seen on todays CNN's website. My caricature of Gadhafi (posted here) was done many, many, many moons ago for the Cox and Forkum site. Now it's back.
My stars, it's seems a catchy caricature speaks the international language of whacky. (JohnCoxArt.com, February 24, 2011.)