.ac
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 Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha |
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 ; 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 Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha. 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]
.ac is marketed 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
Use as an abbreviation for "academic"[edit]
Due to its similarity to the .ac (“academic”) second-level domain that exists under some country code top-level domains, some educational institutions also register under the .ac top-level domain:
- The University of Kurdistan - Hawler[2]
- Ralston College in Savannah, Georgia, United States[3]
- The Faith Mission Bible College in Edinburgh, Scotland[4]
- The Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit (MORU) in Bangkok, Thailand[5]
- INFORM (Information Network Focus on Religious Movements), based at the London School of Economics[6]
- Newcastle University, an online institution unconnected with Newcastle University in the United Kingdom and the University of Newcastle, Australia[7]
Several leading British universities have registered their .ac domain and use this to redirect to their .ac.uk webpages. Examples include:
- University of Oxford[8] from http://www.oxford.ac
- University of Manchester[9] from http://www.manchester.ac
- University of Leeds[10] from http://www.leeds.ac through http://www.leeds.edu/, a placeholder URL.
- University of Bath[11] from http://www.bath.ac
Notable uses[edit]
- On 10 December 2013, The Pirate Bay switched to an .ac domain.[12]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ "IDN Code Points Policy for the .AC Top Level Domain" (PDF). nic.ac. 2013-05-20. Retrieved 2013-05-23.
- ^ http://ukh.ac
- ^ http://www.ralston.ac
- ^ http://www.fmbc.ac
- ^ http://www.tropmedres.ac
- ^ http://inform.ac
- ^ http://www.unc.ac
- ^ http://www.ox.ac.uk
- ^ http://www.manchester.ac.uk
- ^ http://www.leeds.ac.uk
- ^ http://www.bath.ac.uk
- ^ "The Pirate Bay Moves to .AC After Domain Name Seizure".
External links[edit]
- "Delegation Record for .AC". 2011-05-01. Retrieved 2013-05-23.
- .AC Domain Name Registry