<s>
The	O
domain	O
name	O
.tv	B-Protocol
is	O
the	O
internet	B-Application
country	I-Application
code	I-Application
top-level	O
domain	O
(	O
ccTLD	B-Application
)	O
for	O
Tuvalu	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Except	O
for	O
reserved	O
names	O
like	O
com.tv,	O
net.tv,	O
org.tv	O
and	O
others	O
,	O
any	O
person	O
may	O
register	O
second-level	B-Protocol
domains	I-Protocol
under	O
.tv	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1998	O
,	O
the	O
Tuvalu	O
government	O
sought	O
to	O
capitalize	O
on	O
the	O
.tv	B-Protocol
suffix	O
being	O
short	O
for	O
"	O
television	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2019	O
,	O
8.4	O
%	O
of	O
the	O
revenue	O
of	O
the	O
government	O
of	O
Tuvalu	O
came	O
from	O
.tv	B-Protocol
royalties	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Following	O
Tuvalu	O
being	O
allocated	O
two-letter	O
top-level	O
internet	O
domain	O
suffix	O
,	O
.tv	B-Protocol
,	O
the	O
Government	O
of	O
Tuvalu	O
worked	O
with	O
the	O
International	O
Telecommunication	O
Union	O
and	O
created	O
a	O
process	O
to	O
select	O
a	O
management	O
partner	O
for	O
the	O
domain	O
suffix	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
6	O
August	O
1998	O
,	O
a	O
licensing	O
agreement	O
was	O
signed	O
with	O
Information.CA	O
of	O
Toronto	O
under	O
which	O
it	O
agreed	O
to	O
pay	O
an	O
up-front	O
payment	O
of	O
US$50	O
million	O
for	O
exclusive	O
marketing	O
rights	O
to	O
Tuvalu	O
's	O
domain	O
until	O
2048	O
,	O
with	O
the	O
country	O
manager/delegee	O
of	O
the	O
Government	O
of	O
Tuvalu	O
for	O
the	O
.tv	B-Protocol
extension	O
being	O
The	O
.tv	B-Protocol
Corporation	I-Protocol
International	I-Protocol
,	O
which	O
was	O
established	O
in	O
1998	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Lou	O
Kerner	O
became	O
the	O
first	O
employee	O
of	O
.tv	B-Protocol
when	O
he	O
joined	O
as	O
CEO	O
in	O
January	O
2000	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
.tv	B-Protocol
grew	O
to	O
over	O
100	O
employees	O
,	O
with	O
offices	O
in	O
Los	O
Angeles	O
,	O
London	O
,	O
and	O
Hong	O
Kong	O
,	O
before	O
being	O
acquired	O
in	O
a	O
nine-figure	O
transaction	O
in	O
December	O
2001	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
.tv	B-Protocol
Corporation	O
entered	O
into	O
an	O
agreement	O
with	O
VeriSign	O
Inc	O
for	O
the	O
marketing	O
of	O
the	O
domain	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
December	O
2001	O
,	O
The	O
.tv	B-Protocol
Corporation	O
was	O
sold	O
to	O
VeriSign	O
in	O
a	O
nine-figure	O
transaction	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
of	O
31	O
December	O
2001	O
,	O
The	O
.tv	B-Protocol
Corporation	I-Protocol
International	I-Protocol
became	O
a	O
subsidiary	O
of	O
VeriSign	O
Inc	O
.	O
Tuvalu	O
sold	O
its	O
equity	O
stake	O
in	O
The	O
.tv	B-Protocol
Corporation	O
to	O
VeriSign	O
for	O
which	O
it	O
was	O
paid	O
US$10	O
million	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
14	O
December	O
2006	O
,	O
Verisign	O
announced	O
an	O
alliance	O
with	O
Demand	O
Media	O
,	O
run	O
by	O
former	O
MySpace	B-Application
chairman	O
Richard	O
Rosenblatt	O
to	O
market	O
the	O
.tv	B-Protocol
top	O
level	O
domain	O
name	O
(	O
TLD	O
)	O
as	O
the	O
preferred	O
Web	O
address	O
for	O
rich	O
media	O
content	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
"	O
.TV	B-Protocol
"	O
premium	O
names	O
cannot	O
be	O
transferred	O
to	O
another	O
registrar	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Annual	O
renewal	O
fees	O
for	O
.TV	B-Protocol
premium	O
names	O
are	O
the	O
same	O
as	O
the	O
initial	O
"	O
buy	O
now	O
"	O
registration	O
fee	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
16	O
March	O
2010	O
,	O
Sedo	B-Protocol
announced	O
that	O
it	O
had	O
teamed	O
up	O
with	O
Verisign	O
to	O
hold	O
an	O
exclusive	O
auction	O
on	O
1	O
April	O
for	O
115	O
premium	O
.TV	B-Protocol
domain	O
names	O
that	O
would	O
carry	O
standard	O
non-premium	O
annual	O
renewals	O
regardless	O
of	O
the	O
closing	O
auction	O
price	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
19	O
March	O
,	O
Verisign	O
announced	O
that	O
premium	O
.TV	B-Protocol
names	O
would	O
now	O
be	O
available	O
through	O
an	O
expanded	O
.TV	B-Protocol
registrar	O
channel	O
,	O
slashed	O
prices	O
on	O
premium	O
.TV	B-Protocol
names	O
,	O
and	O
made	O
a	O
significant	O
number	O
of	O
high	O
sought	O
after	O
premium	O
.TV	B-Protocol
names	O
non-premium	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
a	O
result	O
,	O
Verisign	O
essentially	O
lifted	O
the	O
roadblock	O
that	O
previously	O
discouraged	O
investment	O
in	O
the	O
.TV	B-Protocol
extension	O
by	O
major	O
domainers	O
,	O
investors	O
,	O
and	O
developers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2011	O
,	O
VeriSign	O
renewed	O
the	O
contract	O
with	O
the	O
Government	O
of	O
Tuvalu	O
to	O
manage	O
the	O
.TV	B-Protocol
registry	O
through	O
to	O
2021	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2014	O
,	O
Amazon	O
acquired	O
Twitch	O
for	O
$1	O
billion	O
,	O
becoming	O
the	O
first	O
.tv	B-Protocol
website	O
to	O
achieve	O
unicorn	O
status	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Verisign	O
pays	O
Tuvalu	O
around	O
US$5	O
million	O
per	O
year	O
for	O
the	O
right	O
to	O
administer	O
.tv	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Websites	O
with	O
the	O
.tv	B-Protocol
domain	O
often	O
feature	O
video	O
content	O
for	O
specific	O
brands	O
or	O
firms	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Marketing	O
firms	O
like	O
Vice	O
in	O
New	O
York	O
have	O
received	O
contracts	O
to	O
create	O
brand-tailored	O
.tv	B-Protocol
content	O
stations	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
Motherboard.tv	O
for	O
Dell	O
and	O
the	O
Creator	O
's	O
Project	O
for	O
Intel	O
have	O
given	O
this	O
domain	O
type	O
more	O
visibility	O
,	O
and	O
inspired	O
the	O
creation	O
of	O
independent	O
content	O
stations	O
at	O
the	O
college	O
level	O
across	O
the	O
United	O
States	O
such	O
as	O
Massive.tv	O
at	O
Northwestern	O
University	O
,	O
Maingreen.tv	O
at	O
Brown	O
University	O
,	O
and	O
Kuumba.tv	O
at	O
Washington	O
University	O
in	O
St.	O
Louis	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
July	O
2011	O
,	O
Google	B-Application
removed	O
.co.tv	O
websites	O
from	O
its	O
search	O
results	O
due	O
to	O
their	O
extensive	O
use	O
by	O
website	O
scammers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
had	O
no	O
impact	O
on	O
other	O
.tv	B-Protocol
websites	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
response	O
to	O
the	O
question	O
of	O
what	O
would	O
happen	O
if	O
a	O
nation-state	O
would	O
cease	O
to	O
exist	O
,	O
the	O
ICANN	B-Application
board	O
stated	O
:	O
"	O
If	O
the	O
code	O
element	O
is	O
removed	O
,	O
the	O
ccTLD	B-Application
is	O
eligible	O
for	O
Retirement	O
.	O
</s>
