.la
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Introduced | 1996 |
|---|---|
| TLD type | Country code top-level domain |
| Status | Active |
| Registry | LA Names Corporation |
| Sponsoring organization | LANIC |
| Intended use | Entities connected with Laos |
| Actual use | Marketed as domain for Los Angeles; hasn't really caught on much |
| Registration restrictions | None; some names are reserved as "premium names" at extra cost |
| Structure | Registrations are taken directly at the second level |
| Documents | ICANN .la MoU |
| Dispute policies | UDRP |
| Web site | WWW.LA |
.la is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Laos.
The LA Names Corporation, based in Guernsey, has gained the rights to market .la registrations, and they use the registry services of Afilias and, formerly, the registrar services of DreamHost (a California-based Web hosting provider). However, DreamHost has discontinued registrar services as of May, 2006, and CentralNic now provides these services. CentralNic is based in the United Kingdom, while the .la domain is allocated to Laos, but the registrar site claims it to be the "official domain of the city of Los Angeles", a city that is known by the "L.A." initials.
As registrations are taken directly at the second level, and many English words end with -la, this presents an opportunity for domain hacks.
