.AF Domain Uncertainty (Afghanistan)

12 points by valianteffort 2y ago ↗ HN

I have some domains registered on the .AF ccTLD through gandi.net. They sent out an email today saying they're having trouble establishing a reliable contact within Afghanistan to handle domain registration. It's possible the domains will be lost.

Obviously the state of Afghanistan is unstable right now. The taliban aren't exactly the most tech literate government, but even prior to them, the former governments process for registering a domain involved filling out a paper document with your info and nameservers and wiring money to the embassy in NY. Eventually some swiss (or NZ) company took over and digitized it. Then gandi.net began offering so I have been with them since.

This is obviously crushing as I am Afghan and these domains mean a lot to me. Anyone have suggestions on what I should do? Short of flying to Afghanistan and trying to meet with the government to unfuck their tech situation, I don't have any ideas. Also I'm not entirely sure what the legality of doing that would be.

5 comments

[ 3.1 ms ] story [ 21.8 ms ] thread

tamimio 2y ago ↗

Just name it domain-af.com

DANmode 2y ago ↗

Separately, if you end up creating a registrar, DomainAF isn't the worst name I've heard!

toomuchtodo 2y ago ↗

Form a corporate entity and offer to provide registry services to the Afghan government. “As an Afghan, it would be my privilege to provide these services in a reliable, consistent manner at a mutually beneficial commercial rate.” Become the reliable contact.

If you don’t ask, the answer is always no. Failing the above, it’s out of your control.

You most likely need to apply for an OFAC license if you’re interested in proceeding with the creative solution above. Check with a professional before proceeding to avoid sanctions violations.

https://www.nic.af/

https://ofac.treasury.gov/sanctions-programs-and-country-inf...

https://ofac.treasury.gov/ofac-license-application-page

muzani 2y ago ↗

If you're Afghan, it sounds like taking control of it might be the way to go. .af domains sounds like they should be lucrative af, even more so than than .tv or .me.

So it seems like the sweet spot of being a problem that's hard to solve and worth solving.

cpach 2y ago ↗

I understand that you have emotional ties to these domains. But are you sure it’s worth the effort to try to save this registry?

To me it seems extremely difficult to handle a functioning registry within a country that has so much civil issues.

You have my sympathies. And I do hope that some day Afghanistan will experience peace and prosperity.