.af

Last updated
.af
Dot AF 2024.png
Introduced16 October 1997
TLD type Country code top-level domain
StatusActive
Registry AFGNIC
Sponsor Ministry of Communications and Information Technology
Intended useEntities connected with Afghanistan
Actual useSome use in Afghanistan
Registered domains5960 (26 August 2020) [1]
Registration restrictionsThird-level names have restrictions based on which second-level name they are beneath.
StructureRegistrations are taken directly at the second level or at the third level beneath various second-level subdomains
Documents ICANN MoU; Policies
Dispute policies Dispute resolution procedures
Registry website nic.af

.af is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Afghanistan. It is administered by AFGNIC, a service of the UNDP.

Contents

History

The .af domain was delegated to Abdul Razeeq in 1997, a year after Taliban fighters had captured Kabul and founded the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

NetNames of London initially maintained the domain following an agreement with the IANA. [2] Razeeq later disappeared, halting some services.

The domain was reopened on 10 March 2003, as a joint program between UNDP and the Afghan Ministry of Communications. [3]

As of 26 August 2020, .af was used by 5,960 domains. [1]

With the fall of Kabul in 2021, the .af domain again came under the control of the Taliban. ICANN said it "defers decision making to within the country". [4] [5]

Registration

Registration is made directly at the second level, or on the third level beneath various categorised subdomains at the second level.

Third-level domains have restrictions based on which second-level domain they are registered under. Registration on the second level is unrestricted, but more expensive. All fees are higher for international registrants.

Restrictions

In 2024, a number of .af domains including "broke.af" and "queer.af" went offline.

The Afghan Ministry of Communications and IT said that they were registered through Gandi, a France-based domain name registrar, and cited Gandi's failure to make payments as the reason for suspension. [6]

Second-level domains

References

  1. 1 2 "Domain Count Statistics for TLDs". domaintools.com. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
  2. ↑ "IANA Report on Redelegation of the .af Top-Level Domain".
  3. ↑ Pitman, Tom (8 March 2003). "Afghanistan to Launch Internet Domain". Midland Daily News. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
  4. ↑ Bode, Karl (31 August 2021). "Afghanistan's Government Websites Are Frozen in Time". Vice. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  5. ↑ Stokel-Walker, Chris (7 September 2021). "The battle for control of Afghanistan's internet". Wired UK. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  6. ↑ Satter, Raphael (2024-02-16). "'broke.af' goes offline as Afghan web domains suspended amid payment dispute". Reuters. Retrieved 2024-02-17.
  7. ↑ "Dot AF New Announcement". nic.af. Archived from the original on 3 October 2020. Retrieved 26 August 2020.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.