.al

.al

Introduced	1992
TLD type	Country code top-level domain
Status	Active
Registry	Electronic and Postal Communications Authority (AKEP)
Sponsor	Electronic and Postal Communications Authority (AKEP)
Intended use	Entities connected with Albania
Actual use	Very popular in Albania
Registration restrictions	Free for anyone, some restrictions apply only on second level domains (ex: .com.al) which are allowed only for Albanian Citizens and Businesses registered in Albania
Dispute policies	Disputes must be with registrant alone; NIC disclaims all legal responsibilities
Website	.al AKEP

.al is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Albania. It is administered by the Electronic and Postal Communications Authority of Albania (AKEP). As of May 1, 2013, anyone can register an .al domain.

Albanian domains can be registered through AKEP, AKEP accredited registrars and many international domain registrars. Domain names should be between 2 and 63 characters. Although the Albanian language has a number of special characters, the registry has not enabled the use of IDN characters.

2nd level registrations

In the past, registrations were not permitted directly at the second level, but a few existing names were "grandfathered"; they were uniti.al, tirana.al, soros.al, upt.al and inima.al.

In 2012 registrars started to resell .al domain names widely making them popular outside Albania as domain hacks.

In November 2014 the registry released two character domain names allowing for free landrush.

3rd level registrations

Registrations used to be only beneath the second-levels, i.e., .com.al, .net.al, .org.al, and .edu.al labeled appropriately for the type of organisation, but many now exist directly below .al.

Whois Servers

The .al zone has no official whois server.

External links

• IANA .al whois information
• AKEP Electronic and Postal Communications Authority (AKEP)
• Host.al Accredited Registrar (Host.al)
• WebHost.al Accredited Registrar (WebHost.al)
• IRegister Accredited Registrar (IRegister)