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Europe One Step Closer to .eu Domain Names
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Adam Eisner, theWHIR.com
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September 6, 2002 – The European
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Commission is now welcoming bids to become the official registrar for
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.eu, the domain extension it hopes to offer individuals and businesses
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located in European Union member states.
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Should the process work according to plan, EU member states could have their own domain suffix by 2003.
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Organizations have until October 25 to
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submit their bids to become the official .eu registry. The winning bid
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will become responsible for registering domains with the .eu extension,
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appointing other .eu approved registrars, ensuring the integrity of the
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.eu domain database, handling disputes involving .eu domains, and
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imposing a fee structure. The winning company will also be responsible
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for establishing provisions that address intellectual property issues,
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and for transcending language and geographical barriers. In order to
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qualify, the bidding companies must be registered as a non-profit firm
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under the regulations of an EU member state.
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Interested parties will be subjected to a
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rigorous selection process. Each applicant will be graded on a scale of
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1 to 5 for several accountabilities, including quality of service,
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consultation mechanisms, human and technical resources and financial
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standing. “Applicants must demonstrate a level of financial security
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and stability that is consistent with the tasks involved,” a notice
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from the Commission released earlier this week said. “Consideration
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therefore will be given to the quality of the business plan provided
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for the proposed registry operation.”
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Plans for a .eu domain extension have
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been in the works for several years, and it would seem there is little
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in the way to stop its activation at this point. The Internet
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Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is reportedly
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well-prepared to designate an .eu domain pending it approves the
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registrar chosen by the European Commission. As it stands, all members
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can offer their own individual country domain suffix (France, for
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example, offers .fr while Britain offers .uk), but there is no cohesive
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domain extension representing a greater European region. As a result,
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the EU officially signed off on a plan to pursue a .eu domain extension
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earlier this year.
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Reports have identified several
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contenders in the battle to become the official .eu registrar. William
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Dee, the Commission official responsible for handling applications,
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confirmed there was interest from an Irish consortium named the .EU
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Policy Oversight Committee (EUPOC). “We (are) aware of talks going on
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involving an Irish participant, EUROPOC [now EUPOC],” he told
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ITworld.com. A French consortium has also been identified as a
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contender.
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Although a registrar has yet to be
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chosen, several sites purportedly offering pre-registration for .eu
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domains have already appeared online. These sites are misleading, as
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the EU has yet to begin any sort of registration process. The Registry
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for the .eu Top Level domain has not yet been selected, the ECs Web
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page on the topic reads. Names obviously cannot be registered until
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the Registry is in operation. Applications will then need to be made
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through registrars who have been formally accredited by the .eu
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Registry.
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After seeing less-than stellar consumer
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and business interest for alternative domain extensions like .biz and
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.info, firms that offer domain names as part of their service offering
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will be looking forward to the implementation of the .eu suffix. Last
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year, a report from UK domain name registrar Nominet suggested more
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businesses were choosing .uk domains instead of the traditional .com,
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.net and .org extensions because of the stigma attached to Top Level
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Domains (TLDs) following the dot-com crash a trend that could spread
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to other European countries.
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A simple lack of good words for TLD
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domain names could also convince firms that a shorter,
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regional-specific domain name extension is far more effective for
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branding purposes than a longer .com or .net TLD. And with the
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introduction of the Euro earlier this year as the currency of choice
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for all members, the European Union is gaining a regional identity and
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cohesiveness not seen on most other continents. As a result, a .eu
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domain extension may become of particular interest to any firm that
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caters to different parts of Europe an emerging trend across the
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continent.
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You can find more information on the .eu domain name and the bidding process here.
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