.ag Knowpia

.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.

Second and third level registrations edit

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

.com.ag or .co.ag (intended for commercial entities)
.org.ag (intended for organisations, especially nonprofits)
.net.ag (intended for network operators/providers)
.nom.ag (intended for individuals)

There are no restrictions on who can register.

Domain hacks edit

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).^[1]

".ag" used to mean "Aktiengesellschaft" edit

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 edit

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.^[2]^[3]