.ga
 | |
| Status: | Active |
| country: | Gabon |
| Introduced: | 1994 |
| Manager: | ANINF |
| Registry Provider: | ANINF |
| Type: | ccTLD |
.ga is the Country Code Top-Level Domain (ccTLD) for the country of Gabon. It is an Open Use ccTLD.
Delegation History
The .ga domain was initially delegated to RIPE Network Coordination Centre in 1994. The domain was redelegated to the Office des Postes et Télécommunications de la République Gabonaise (OPT) in 1998. The public telecommunications service, Gabon Telecom, became the sponsoring organization in 2004.[1]
Following privatization of Gabon Telecom in 2007, reorganizations and commercial priorities "necessitated the transfer of the management of the .GA domain."[1] Agence Nationale des Infrastructures Numériques et des Fréquences (ANINF), was created in 2011, and became involved in management of the .ga domain at the beginning of 2012.[1] ANINF requested and was granted redelegation of the .ga domain in 2013.[2]
Denial of Registration to Kim Dotcom
During Kim Dotcom's battle to maintain his Megaupload storage-as-a-service business, Dotcom registered me.ga for use as an alternative domain name for a relaunched site. However, ANINF's parent ministry, the Ministère de la Communication et de l'Economie Numérique, suspended the registration, stating that Gabon could not support violation of intellectual property laws.[3]
Free and Open Registration
.GA is no longer part of Freenom, and it is no longer possible to register .ga domains for free. In the past, it had no restrictions on registration for .ga domains.[4] Registration was offered "for free" in partnership with Freenom. However, individuals who opt to register a free domain were not deemed to be registrants in the traditional sense of the term, and their use of the domain could be revoked at any time or upon failure to renew within a narrow window of time at the end of the free registration period.[5]