.ao
.ao is the country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Angola.The dns.ao is the manager of the .ao top-level domain and does not provide address registration services. "digital.ao" is the official channel for registering addresses under the .ao domain and is managed and operated by the Instituto do Fomento para a Sociedade de Informação (INFOSI) (English: Institute for the Promotion of the Information Society). dns.ao and INFOSI are entities under the supervision of the Ministério das Telecomunicações e Tecnologias de Informação e Comunicação Social de Angola (MINTTICS) (English: Ministry of Telecommunications, Information Technology, and Social Communication of Angola).[1]
Delegation History[edit | edit source]
The .ao top-level domain was managed by the Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade Agostinho Neto (the Engineering Faculty of the Agostinho Neto University) when it was initially delegated in the mid-1990’s.
In February 2000, Fundação para a Computação Científica Nacional (FCCN), the organization responsible for the management of the .pt (Portugal) top-level domain, began providing technical services for the .ao top-level domain and was listed as its technical contact in the IANA Root Zone Database.
In May 2013, after a restructuring of FCCN's mission and responsibilities, a new entity named Associação DNS.PT (DNS.PT) was created to manage the .pt top-level domain and provide technical services for several other ccTLDs, including .ao.
In October 2014, the IANA Root Zone Database was updated to reflect the .ao technical contact change to DNS.PT.
On 25 January 2018, through Presidential Decree No. 16/18, the mission of the MTTI was established as the entity responsible for the policy and strategy of telecommunications and information technologies in Angola.
On 21 August 2018, Presidential Decree No. 107/18 approved the transfer of the management and operation of the .ao top-level domain to the MTTI. On 1 October 2018, MTTI Decree No. 4820 created a working committee for transferring management of the .ao top-level domain to MTTI in order to “strengthen the security and protection of the digital sovereignty of the Angolan State in cyberspace, with technical and administrative measures”. The committee was coordinated by Manuel Gomes da Conceição Homem, the proposed administrative contact, and composed of five members including the General Secretary, the Director of the Legal Office, the National Director of Telecommunications, the National Director of the Information Society and Meteorology and the Director of the National Institute for the Development of the Information Society.
On 16 March 2020, MTTI initiated a request for the transfer of the .ao top-level domain.[2]
Rules[edit | edit source]
Anyone can request the registration of an available name under the .ao domain.
Registration requests become definitive 96 hours after their validation, during which time a panel of experts may determine if assigning the domain name to the applicant conflicts with national interests, is confusingly similar to registered trademarks of other entities, carries a pejorative meaning, is registered in the name of entities that are not the legitimate holders of the respective trademarks, or involves registrations made individually or in bulk that are not used to convey content.[1]