T.me shows a Server Hold status.
[Update: t.me is back online. The .me registry said it was on hold “due to OFAC compliance”, referring to the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets. Since t.me is a URL shortener, one of the URLs on the serve led to a company on the OFAC list.]
A critical domain name for messaging app Telegram has been suspended.
The current status for t.me shows it’s in a Server Hold, which prevents the domain name from resolving.
A server hold status is put in place by the registry, which suggests the registry has suspended the domain name.
.Me is the country code domain name for Montenegro, but it has been commercialized based on its generic meaning.
While Identity Digital handles the backend registry for the domain, the business is managed by an organization in Montenegro.
Telegram uses t.me as a short link for sending people to places in the app. Usernames are in the format t.me/username, channels are t.me/channelname, etc.
Interestingly, the .me registry has a partnership with Telegram, which led to t.me becoming the shortlink domain of record for Telegram.
No word yet on what caused the suspension.
Another example of why we can’t rely on spurious domain extensions for critical things.
Telegram also sells third-level domains under .t.me!
Like domain.t.me
A real-world example:
https://fragment.com/username/newyork_city
Are they selling these names or do they give them as a subdomain of t.me and people are selling them to each other? I believe it’s the latter.
They sell these subdomains. I don’t know anyone who has sold their subdomain to someone else.
The site you linked to is a third party marketplace for selling digital collectables, right?
It is a site for selling usernames.
Yes. Also collectible items