.ag

.ag

Introduced	3 September 1991
TLD type	Country code top-level domain
Status	Active
Registry	NicAg
Sponsor	None
Intended use	Entities connected with Antigua and Barbuda
Actual use	Sees some use, most of which is unrelated to Antigua and Barbuda; used largely by companies in German-speaking countries where AG has a special meaning in company names, though its use in Germany is restricted by court order
Registration restrictions	None
Structure	Names can be registered directly at the second level; third-level registrations are also available under some second-level labels
Documents	Registration terms and conditions
Dispute policies	UDRP
DNSSEC	Yes
Registry website	Nic.ag

.ag is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Antigua and Barbuda. As of 2021 the .ag CcTLD is maintained by the UHSA School of Medicine. ^[1]

Second and third level registrations

Registrations can be made at the second level directly beneath .ag, or at the third level beneath:

Domain	Intended use
.com.ag	Commercial entities
.co.ag
.org.ag	Organisations, especially nonprofits
.net.ag	Network operators / providers
.nom.ag	Individuals

There are no restrictions on who can register.

Domain hacks

In addition to its original intended use as a country code, the .ag domain has been marketed for use for agriculture-related sites, and for sites referencing the atomic symbol for silver, Ag.

It also has a potential use for other domain hacks for English words that end in -ag. The Heritage Foundation uses .ag for URL shortening (herit.ag), as well as The Association of Former Students of Texas A&M University (tx.ag). ^{[2] [3]}

".ag" meaning "Aktiengesellschaft"

Aktiengesellschaft , abbreviated AG, is a German term that refers to a corporation that is limited by shares, i.e. owned by shareholders, and may be traded on a stock market.

The term is used in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, but not Liechtenstein or Luxembourg.

Legal status of .ag in Germany

A German court (5. Zivilsenat des Oberlandesgerichtes Hamburg) ruled in July 2004 that a .ag domain may only be registered by an Aktiengesellschaft , and then only by an AG that has the same name as the domain.

For example, a company with shareholders in Germany having the name X AG may not register as y.ag. ^{[4] [5]}

Use in Greenland

The newspaper Sermitsiaq uses the TLD since its merger with the paper Atuagagdliutit/Grønlandsposten, which was marketed as AG as an abbreviation of its combined Greenlandic and Danish names, thus implying a continuation of its identity.

See also

• Internet in Antigua and Barbuda

References

1. Delegation Record for .AG
2. "The Domain of Antigua & Barbuda". Dynadot.
3. "An Aggies-Only URL Shortener". The Association of Former Students. 21 February 2011.
4. (in German) http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/49249
5. (in German) http://www.internet4jurists.at/domain/e_deutsch.htm

External links

• List of .AG Registrars Archived 2013-07-08 at the Wayback Machine
• IANA .ag whois information