Definitions
A domain name on the Internet is a limited domain of the international resources of the Domain Name System that is assigned for exclusive use to a physical or legal entity. This word is always further specified by an extension that somehow characterizes the “region” of the network to which it belongs. So, for example, for the namespace ending in “.cy”, a domain name will have the form “name.cy” and one can visit the website(s) that correspond to it by typing in a browser an address of the form “https://www.name.cy”.
“Commissioner” means the Commissioner for the Regulation of Electronic Communications and Posts appointed in accordance with the provisions of the Regulation of Electronic Communications and Postal Services Law of 2004, Law 112(I)/2004.
“Administrator” means the University of Cyprus, which has been appointed by the Commissioner for the licensing and management of domain names ending in “.cy”.
Domain Name Licensee” or “owner/Registrant ” means the person to whom a Domain Name License ending in “.cy” has been granted.
“Registry.cy” or “Registry” means the database containing all registered Domain Names ending in “.cy”, for which a License has been granted by the Commissioner, in accordance with the provisions of Regulatory Decision. In addition, the entity that manages the Registry is responsible for managing the name servers and zone files that are necessary for the proper functioning of domain names ending in “.cy”.
Assigning a Domain Name
To be assigned a domain name ending in “.cy”, you must submit an application as part of the domain name registration procedure outlined here.
On the website of the Registry www.nic.cy , you will find the Agreement for the registration, licensing, and management of domain names ending in “.cy”. In addition to the assignment of domain names ending in “.cy” (1st level names), domain name assignments are possible in the following subdomains of .cy (2nd level names):
A/A | Category | Description |
---|---|---|
1 | ac.cy | Academic and research institutions registered with the Ministry of Education as educational institutions |
2 | biz.cy | Other companies registered with the Registrar of Companies |
3 | com.cy | Second Level domain name for registration by all entities |
4 | eklgoges.cy | Organizations and persons associated with elections |
5 | gov.cy | Government institutions/sectors/organizations |
6 | ltd.cy | Private and public companies with limited liability registered with the Registrar of Companies |
7 | net.cy | Licensed network providers and/or service providers of electronic communications |
8 | org.cy | Non-profit organizations (NGOs) / institutions / foundations registered with the Registrar of Associations and Societies and other independent organizations |
9 | press.cy | Organisations and businesses of the Press |
10 | pro.cy | Professional organizations and businesses |
11 | tm.cy | Trademarks officially registered in the European Union Intellectual Property |
12 | mil.cy | Ministry of Defence |
You can check the availability of a domain name ending in “.cy” through the Whois service available on the Registry website at https://registry.nic.cy/cy-ui/home . The availability check provides information on whether the domain name you are interested in is assigned to someone else or not, as well as whether it falls under any of the restrictions defined in the Regulation on the Management and Assignment of Domain Names ending in “.cy”.
You can find the information available for each assigned “.cy” domain name through the Whois service available on the Registry’s website at https://registry.nic.cy/cy-ui/home. Whois includes the following information: (a) the domain name ending in “.cy” for which a license has been granted, (b) the name of the person who registered the domain name (only in the case of legal entities), (c) the date of expiration of the license, and (d) the name servers.
The Regulation on the Management and Assignment of Domain Names ending in “.cy” does not provide for the reservation of a domain name, beyond its registration.
There is no priority list for domain names ending in “.cy” that have already been assigned. A chronological order of priority is maintained for domain name registration statements that are filed, as long as the name is available, or its registration is pending. Each application submitted electronically to the System receives a priority number based on the date and time of its submission and is served based on its priority number.
The “.cy” domain names are registered the Registry .cy. The Registry maintains a database of assigned “.cy” domain names and ensures their uniqueness. In other words, there cannot be a second “name.cy”. However, the same name can exist and work with another ending. Assigning the domain name “name.cy” does not preclude assigning, for example, the domain names “name.com.cy”, “name.ac.cy”, “name.com” or “name.de”.
It should be noted that there is no form of binding of assigned name ending in “.cy” to the rest of other endings. For example, the assigned “name.cy” will not be bound to the endings such as “.com.cy”,”.ac.cy”, “ltd.cy” etc.
Persons have the right to apply for the granting of a License and to register a Domain Name with the ending “.cy”, regardless of whether or not they are permanent residents of the Republic of Cyprus. The application can be made either by the person interested or by an authorized representative.
A “.cy” domain name consists of at least three (3) to sixty-three (63) characters, not including the extension “.cy” and subdomains of “.cy”. It may include alphanumeric characters of the Latin alphabet A-Z, a-z, 0-9 as well as the character (–), which, however, cannot appear at the beginning or at the end of the domain name ending in “.cy”.
Domain name assignment is independent of website creation and hosting services. For these services you should contact an Internet Service Provider (ISP). The internet Service Provider will provide you with the technical information (nameservers) for your website to work and which will need to be entered through the Automated System in the details sections of the name assigned to you. Relevant instructions can be found here.
Fees Table for domain names with “.cy” extension can be found here.
The Domain Name License with the ending “.cy” may be assigned for one (1), two (2), or five (5) calendar years from the date of its registration. This depends on the duration of the License as determined by the fees paid either for the registration or the renewal of the Name License, as specified in the Table of Annex IV of the Regulatory Decision.
Following evaluation, an application may be rejected if the mentioned name falls under the “Cases in which the granting of a Domain Name License by the Administrator is prohibited” as referred to in article 11 of the AGREEMENT FOR REGISTRATION, GRANTING OF LICENSE TO USE AND MANAGEMENT OF DOMAIN NAMES WITH EXPIRATION “.cy”.
Information regarding the rejection of an application is communicated by e-mail to the e-mail address registered in the System during the submission of the application.
To protect a trademark/brand name, you should register the corresponding trademark/brand name as a domain name.
There is no limitation as to the number of Domain Names ending in “.cy” may be assigned to one owner/Registrant.
The Registry operates in UTC (Universal Coordinated Time).
Namespace Function
In case your domain name is already connected to the respective name servers of your provider (use the WHOIS service https://registry.nic.cy/cy-ui/home ), you should contact the Technical administrator or your Internet Service Provider (ISP) for any problems with the name operation.
For all the above DNS entries and functions, the registrar/owner or the technical administrator of the domain name, you should contact your Internet Service Provider (ISP).
The registration of the nameservers is done through the Automated System at https://www.nic.cy. At least two (2) nameservers and must be declared in the form of the fully qualified domain name. Please, follow the procedure outlined here.
The change of the nameservers is carried out through the Automated System at https://www.nic.cy by submitting at least two (2) nameservers in the Fully Qualified Domain Name format. Please, follow the procedure outlined here.
Important Note:
If the nameservers to be recorded have .cy extension, then the IP addresses of these nameservers must also be recorded. The IP addresses must be different for each nameserver.
If your domain name is connected to a nameserver ending in “.cy” and the IP address has been changed by you or your provider, you need to update the “.cy” Name Registry at the email address [email protected] .
If the nameserver does not have a “.cy” extension you do not need to update the Registry.
The “.cy” zone file reload times (UTC/GMT) are: 00:00, 03:00, 06:00, 09:00, 12:00, 15:00, 18:00, 21:00.
If you want the change to be made immediately, you perform it close to a reload time.
To check if the change has been applied, connect to the Automated System at https://www.nic.cy and follow the procedure found here.
The primary nameserver is the nameserver that has the original zone file. This file is shared among the secondary nameservers usually with the zone transfer method. In the registration of nameservers in the Registry, the order in which they are declared or displayed in the Whois service is not important for the functioning of the domain name.
The “.cy” zone file reload times (UTC/GMT) are:
00:00, 03:00, 06:00, 09:00, 12:00, 15:00, 18:00, 21:00.
Domain Name Changes
The License cannot be transferred to another person except in the following cases, which must be notified to the Registry: (a) Inheritance right, in the case of physical persons; (b) Partnership or merger of a legal entity with another legal entity or acquisition of a legal entity by another legal entity, in the case of legal entities.
The change of ownership of the use of a “.cy” domain name is permitted and carried out through the Automated System by the Owner/Registrar of the domain name. The licensee of a domain name can submit a change of ownership request. The request will be evaluated and once approved, the NEW LICENSEE / OWNER will have to pay a fee of €10.00.
Please note that during the process of ownership change, the expiration date of the domain name remains unchanged.
For instructions regarding the Change of Ownership of a domain name, click here.
Changes to the information provided for a “.cy” domain name (e.g. DNS, owner/registrar name, contact information, etc.) are made through the Automated System at https://www.nic.cy by the person who manages the name elements you wish to change.
Please note that no change(s) can be made to the name of the owner/registrar of the domain name. This can only be done a) in the case a legal entity, only when a company name change certificate is provided and b) in the case a physical person, only to correct a name that has been entered incorrectly. A request to change basic information should be filled through your account in the Automated System after all the relevant certificates have been submitted (e.g. a certificate of change of company name from the Registrar of Companies in the case of a legal entity, or a copy of the identity card in the case of a physical person).
The zone files of “.cy”, and the sub-domains “.com.cy”, “ac.cy”, “org.cy” are ‘signed’, i.e. they contain information that allows the use of DNSSEC (DNS Security) technology in order to certify the integrity and correctness of the responses given by domain name servers.
To fully enable the capabilities provided using this technology, domain names should be ‘signed’. The ‘signing’ of domain names is carried out through the Registry and according to the instructions you can find here. Using DNSSEC is optional.
Deletion of a domain name can be carried out by request through the Automated System at https://www.nic.cy and only by the owner/registrar of the domain name.
Domain Name Renewal
It is possible to renew the Domain Name License for a period of one (1), two (2), or five (5) years from the expiry date. The Registry will send a notice one (1) month before the expiry of a license with the ending “.cy” informing the Billing Contact to pay the license renewal fee for the Domain Name with the ending “.cy”. In addition, weekly notifications are sent within the month before the license to use the domain name ending in “.cy” expires.
The renewal fee must be paid by the last day on which the license expires. The Domain Name License ending in “.cy” is automatically renewed as soon as the renewal fee is paid.
The procedure that must be followed can be found here.
In case the Billing Contact does not respond, the License to Use the Domain Name is automatically cancelled. In case the Owner/Registrar wishes to re-assign after this cancellation, the renewal fee will need to be paid as well as an additional fee of €10. Please not that in case the Owner/Registrar wishes to be reassigned the domain name, this needs to be requested within a period of ten (10) working days (Annex I, article 4(j)) from the date of expiry of the domain name. In case it is not, the domain name will become available for new registration.
The procedure that needs to be followed can be found here.
You login to the Automated System at the address https://www.nic.cy. Via Payments → Pending Payments → you will find the link to complete the payment.
Automated System Operation
For information and related instructions, please click here.
If you are an Owner/Registrar, your application will be rejected because you have not accepted the role, and you will have to proceed with submitting a new application.
If you are an administrative, technical, and/or billing contact, your role will be added to the Owner/Registrar, whom you will need to inform when the name is registered so as to assign back to you the appropriate role.
You can be informed about the progress of your request by logging to the Automated System at https://www.nic.cy and then clicking on the option Application List – See application status.
If your application is still in the saved requests, it means that one of your contacts has not accepted their role. After being accepted by all contacts, your application moves to the next stage and is submitted for evaluation/assessment.
Log in to the Automated System at https://www.nic.cy and click on the option Application List – In the specific application. There you can confirm that the required additional documents have been submitted and therefore received.
You can see the email address of the contacts associated with your domain name by clicking on the option Application List and by selecting Edit for the domain name you want to check.
You should contact the Registry “.cy” by sending an email to [email protected].
Log in to the Automated System to the Automated System at https://www.nic.cy. Click on the the option Domains → My Domain Names → with the grey pencil you can change the contacts if you are the Owner/Registrar of the domain name.
The Administrative contact of the domain name following the same procedure can change the technical contact and the billing Contact.
In case the Owner/Registrar wishes to re-assign after cancellation, the renewal fee will need to paid as well as an additional fee of €10 within a period of ten (10) working days (Annex I, article 4(j)) from the date of expiry of the domain name.
Otherwise, the domain name will become available for a new registration.
The procedure that must be followed can be found here.
To issue an invoice after completing the payment, you need to log in to the Automated System at the address https://www.nic.cy via the Payments → List of Payments → Invoice option.
After logging to the Automated System at https://www.nic.cy , the Owner of the domain name needs to click on Domains →My Domain Names. On the right side of every name there is a box for issuing a certificate → After completing the €5 payment → The certificate will be ready for issue at the same point.