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.am
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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For the file extension .am, see Automake.
| Introduced | 1994 |
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| TLD type | Country code top-level domain |
| Status | Active |
| Registry | AMNIC |
| Sponsor | ISOC-AM (local chapter of Internet Society) |
| Intended use | Entities connected with  Armenia |
| Actual use | Still used largely in Armenia despite being marketed as global domain |
| Registration restrictions | Some generic names reserved; registry reserves right to revoke registrations due to obscenity or other illegal or immoral activity |
| Structure | Registrations permitted directly at second level |
| Documents | AM TLD policy |
| Dispute policies | UDRP |
| Website | AMNIC |
.am is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Armenia.
[edit] Regulation
The registry for .am is operated by ISOC-AM, the local chapter of the Internet Society.
Regulatory notes:
- Except for reserved names like .com.am, .net.am, .org.am and others, any person in the world can register a .am domain for a fee.
- Each domain name is subject to review. Generally each review takes 2 or 3 working days.
- For religious reasons, Armenian law prohibits its domain names from being used for obscene sites.
- The AM-NIC is moving over to IPv6 address compatibility in line with the global DNS system.
- Unicode compatible names will not be instituted at AM-NIC until all issues related to IPv6 are resolved.
[edit] Usage in domain hacks
The domain name is popular (and thus economically valuable) due to it being a mnemonic for AM radio (other similar ccTLDs are .fm, .tv, .cd, .dj and .mu). Such unconventional usage of TLDs in domain names are known as domain hacks.
The domain-hacked name i.am has also been used for a popular hosting service, although it (and similar "two-letter word" hacks) is now owned by a third-party registration business.
