r
Europe One Step Closer to .eu Domain Names
r
r
Adam Eisner, theWHIR.com
r
r
r
September 6, 2002 – The European
r
Commission is now welcoming bids to become the official registrar for
r
.eu, the domain extension it hopes to offer individuals and businesses
r
located in European Union member states.
r
Should the process work according to plan, EU member states could have their own domain suffix by 2003.
r
Organizations have until October 25 to
r
submit their bids to become the official .eu registry. The winning bid
r
will become responsible for registering domains with the .eu extension,
r
appointing other .eu approved registrars, ensuring the integrity of the
r
.eu domain database, handling disputes involving .eu domains, and
r
imposing a fee structure. The winning company will also be responsible
r
for establishing provisions that address intellectual property issues,
r
and for transcending language and geographical barriers. In order to
r
qualify, the bidding companies must be registered as a non-profit firm
r
under the regulations of an EU member state.
r
Interested parties will be subjected to a
r
rigorous selection process. Each applicant will be graded on a scale of
r
1 to 5 for several accountabilities, including quality of service,
r
consultation mechanisms, human and technical resources and financial
r
standing. “Applicants must demonstrate a level of financial security
r
and stability that is consistent with the tasks involved,” a notice
r
from the Commission released earlier this week said. “Consideration
r
therefore will be given to the quality of the business plan provided
r
for the proposed registry operation.”
r
Plans for a .eu domain extension have
r
been in the works for several years, and it would seem there is little
r
in the way to stop its activation at this point. The Internet
r
Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is reportedly
r
well-prepared to designate an .eu domain pending it approves the
r
registrar chosen by the European Commission. As it stands, all members
r
can offer their own individual country domain suffix (France, for
r
example, offers .fr while Britain offers .uk), but there is no cohesive
r
domain extension representing a greater European region. As a result,
r
the EU officially signed off on a plan to pursue a .eu domain extension
r
earlier this year.
r
Reports have identified several
r
contenders in the battle to become the official .eu registrar. William
r
Dee, the Commission official responsible for handling applications,
r
confirmed there was interest from an Irish consortium named the .EU
r
Policy Oversight Committee (EUPOC). “We (are) aware of talks going on
r
involving an Irish participant, EUROPOC [now EUPOC],” he told
r
ITworld.com. A French consortium has also been identified as a
r
contender.
r
Although a registrar has yet to be
r
chosen, several sites purportedly offering pre-registration for .eu
r
domains have already appeared online. These sites are misleading, as
r
the EU has yet to begin any sort of registration process. The Registry
r
for the .eu Top Level domain has not yet been selected, the ECs Web
r
page on the topic reads. Names obviously cannot be registered until
r
the Registry is in operation. Applications will then need to be made
r
through registrars who have been formally accredited by the .eu
r
Registry.
r
After seeing less-than stellar consumer
r
and business interest for alternative domain extensions like .biz and
r
.info, firms that offer domain names as part of their service offering
r
will be looking forward to the implementation of the .eu suffix. Last
r
year, a report from UK domain name registrar Nominet suggested more
r
businesses were choosing .uk domains instead of the traditional .com,
r
.net and .org extensions because of the stigma attached to Top Level
r
Domains (TLDs) following the dot-com crash a trend that could spread
r
to other European countries.
r
A simple lack of good words for TLD
r
domain names could also convince firms that a shorter,
r
regional-specific domain name extension is far more effective for
r
branding purposes than a longer .com or .net TLD. And with the
r
introduction of the Euro earlier this year as the currency of choice
r
for all members, the European Union is gaining a regional identity and
r
cohesiveness not seen on most other continents. As a result, a .eu
r
domain extension may become of particular interest to any firm that
r
caters to different parts of Europe an emerging trend across the
r
continent.
r
You can find more information on the .eu domain name and the bidding process here.
r
r
r
r
r
About theWHIR.com
Since 2000, The Web Host Industry Review has made a name for itself as the foremost authority of the Web hosting industry providing reliable, insightful and comprehensive news, interviews and resources to the hosting community. TheWHIR is an iNET Interactive property. For more information on iNET Interactive, visit http://www.inetinteractive.com
No related posts.
