.ac
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the top-level domain (TLD). For the second-level domain, see .ac (second level).
| Introduced | 1997 |
|---|---|
| TLD type | Country code top-level domain |
| Status | Active |
| Registry | Ascension Island Network Information Centre (run by Internet Computer Bureau) |
| Sponsor | Cable and Wireless (Ascension Island) |
| Intended use | Entities connected with  Ascension Island |
| Actual use | Various uses, sometimes connected to education and academia; a few sites actually on Ascension Island |
| Registration restrictions | 2nd-level registrant must have professional or academic qualification (apparently not actually enforced); 3rd level registrant must be resident on Ascension Island |
| Structure | Registrations are taken directly at the second level or at third level beneath various 2nd-level labels |
| Documents | Terms & Conditions; Rules |
| Dispute policies | Dispute Resolution Policy |
| Website | NIC.AC |
| DNSSEC | yes |
.ac is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Ascension Island. It is administered by NIC.AC, a subsidiary of the Internet Computer Bureau based in the United Kingdom.
Registration for this domain is open to anyone. The registry accepts registrations of internationalized domain names.[1]
Although it is a ccTLD .ac is offered by some domain-brokers as a domain for the city of Aachen in Germany, using the analogy to the automotive license plate designation ("AC") for the city.
Contents |
[edit] Use as an abbreviation for "academic"
The following institutions also register under this top-level domain:
- Ishik University (http://ishik.ac/)
- The University of Kurdistan - Hawler (http://ukh.ac/)
- Ralston College in Savannah, Georgia, USA (http://www.ralston.ac)
- The Faith Mission Bible College in Edinburgh, Scotland (http://www.fmbc.ac)
- The Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit (MORU) in Bangkok, Thailand (http://www.tropmedres.ac/)
- INFORM (Information Network Focus on Religious Movements), based at the London School of Economics (http://inform.ac/)
- The University of Newcastle(http://www.unc.ac/)
[edit] Second-level subdomains
There are five second-level domains:
- com.ac: Commercial Entities
- net.ac: Network Service Providers
- gov.ac: Government
- org.ac: Non-commercial Organizations
- mil.ac: Military
[edit] Other uses
.ac is also a second-level domain below a number of ccTLD of other countries for academic establishments (see .ac (second level)).
