.pw

---

title: ".pw" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["communications-in-palau", "country-code-top-level-domains", "endurance-international-group"] description: "Internet country code top-level domain for Palau" topic_path: "general/communications-in-palau" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.pw" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Internet country code top-level domain for Palau ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox Top level domain"]

Field	Value
name	.pw
image	Logo-pw.svg
introduced	12 June 1997
type	Country code top-level domain
status	Active
registry	Radix
sponsor	Micronesia Investment and Development Corporation
intendeduse	Entities connected with Palau
actualuse	Marketed as dedicated namespace to use as a professional identity on the web and as an acronym for Public Wallet. Can be registered and used for any purpose.
restrictions	None
structure	Registrations can be made directly at second level.
document	Policies
disputepolicy	UDRP
dnssec	yes
website
::

| name = .pw | image = Logo-pw.svg | introduced = 12 June 1997 | type = Country code top-level domain | status = Active | registry = Radix | sponsor = Micronesia Investment and Development Corporation | intendeduse = Entities connected with Palau | actualuse = Marketed as dedicated namespace to use as a professional identity on the web and as an acronym for Public Wallet. Can be registered and used for any purpose. | restrictions = None | structure = Registrations can be made directly at second level. | document = Policies | disputepolicy = UDRP | dnssec = yes | website =

.pw is the country code top-level domain for the Republic of Palau.

History

The country code top-level domain .pw was delegated to the Pacific island nation of Palau in 1997. It has since been redelegated a number of times. Directi, a group of technology businesses, obtained exclusive rights over .pw from EnCirca in 2004. From 25 March 2013, domains under the .pw TLD are available to the general public. Since then, it is sometimes marketed as a domain for professionals (professional web).

In July 2013 the registry announced that they had passed the 250,000 registration milestone within the first three months, after having 50,000 registered domains in the first three weeks.

Issues

A few months after opening the registry to the general public, .pw became the target of spammers. Symantec released two reports in April and May 2013 claiming that domains under .pw TLD were a significant source of spam e-mail. Directi responded that it had zero tolerance for spam and would be deleting domains accused of violating its anti-abuse policy.

In 2016, the Anti-Phishing Working Group stated that the .cc, .com, .pw, and .tk domain names account for 75% of all malicious domain registrations.

A list of accredited registrars is available on registry.pw.

--

References

References

1. (30 June 2003). "IANA {{!}} IANA Report on Redelegation of the .pw Top-Level Domain".
2. "Directi to relaunch .pw as an open TLD". DomainIncite.
3. ".pw Announces Single Character Domain Names Auction {{!}} .PW - the Professional Web".
4. ".PW Crosses 50,000 Domain Registrations In 3 Weeks {{!}} .PW - the Professional Web".
5. "Rise of .pw URLs in Spam Messages".
6. ".pw URLs in Spam Keep Showing Up".
7. (3 May 2013). "Directi fighting "massive" .pw spam outbreak".
8. Judah, Jacob. (2023-11-02). "How a tiny Pacific Island became the global capital of cybercrime". [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]].

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::