Domain fun on a global Net… Could a country just kill your domain because they don’t like your stuff? Libya says “See Ya” to an .ly domain account

Gizmodo - URL Shorteners in Peril as Libyan Government Seizes .ly Domain

“! Dictatorships! Always spoiling our fun! That cutesy URL shortening service you might use (bit.ly, perhaps) is riding on Libya's .ly domain suffix. And Libya ain't pleased—one shortener, vb.ly, was recently shut down for violating Libya's oppressive laws.

Ben Metcalfe, (former) owner of pro-porn URL shortening site vb.ly, found that his domain was abruptly deleted by the Libyan government. Metcalfe was told his domain was yanked because …”

Talk about a slippery slope.

I can see that a country has the right to manage and control the usage of their root domain, just as we have the right to not use them… I think the lesson here is to be careful with your registrations. Just because you CAN register your cute name in another county’s domain, doesn’t mean you should…