.am
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Introduced | 1994 |
---|---|
TLD type | Country code top-level domain |
Status | Active |
Registry | AMNIC |
Sponsoring organization | ISOC-AM (local chapter of Internet Society) |
Intended use | Entities connected with Armenia |
Actual use | Still used largely in Armenia despite being marketed as global domain |
Registration restrictions | Some generic names reserved; registry reserves right to revoke registrations due to obscenity or other illegal or immoral activity |
Structure | Registrations permitted directly at second level |
Documents | AM TLD policy |
Dispute policies | UDRP |
Web site | AMNIC |
.am is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Armenia, a former republic of the Soviet Union.
[edit] Regulation
The registry for .am is operated by ISOC-AM, the local chapter of the Internet Society.
Regulatory notes
- Except for reserved names like .com.am, .net.am, .org.am and others, any person in the world can register a .am domain for a fee.
- Each domain name is subject to review. Generally each review takes 2 or 3 working days.
- For religious reasons, Armenian law prohibits its domain names from being used for obscene sites.
- The AM-NIC is moving over to IPv6 address compatibility in line with the global DNS system.
- Unicode compatible names will not be instituted at AM-NIC until all issues related to IPv6 are resolved.
[edit] AM used as a Domain Name Hack
The domain name is popular (and thus economically valuable) due to it being a mnemonic for AM radio (other similar ccTLDs are .fm, .tv, .cd and .dj). Such unconventional usage of TLDs in domain names are known as domain hacks.
The domain-hacked name i.am has also been used for a popular hosting service, although it (and similar "two-letter word" hacks) are now owned by a third-party registration business.