".tk Domain: Little Tokelau's Unexpected Rise as a Cybercrime Hub"
The tiny Pacific territory of Tokelau, with only about 1,400 inhabitants, became an unexpected internet giant and cybercrime hub due to its .tk domain name. In 2000, a Dutch entrepreneur named Joost Zuurbier struck a deal with Tokelau to manage its country-code top-level domain, allowing anyone to obtain a .tk website for free. As a result, the .tk domain had more users than any other country's, but the majority of them were spammers and cybercriminals. Tokelau officials are now angry about the damage to their reputation and the lack of financial benefit from the arrangement.