Ready for .eu

Final agreement on .eu domain names expected 'this month'
04.OCT.2004 - 17:58 CET | By Richard Carter

URL: http://www.euobserver.com/?sid=9&aid=17439

Note: Let's hope .asia can become truth as well :-)

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The company selected to run the .eu domain name says it expects to sign a contract with the European Commission "by the end of the month", ending over a year of deadlock...The contract was awarded to EURid in May 2003, with the expectation that the .eu domain name would be ready for the end of 2003. 

Marc van Wesenmael, Director of EURid, which was selected to run .eu, told the EUobserver that the contract would be signed "certainly this month", paving the way for .eu domain names to be available some time around the Summer of 2005 - "a realistic assessment", according to Mr van Wesenmael...

...EURid must first agree a contract with a corporation called ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), which will decide whether to add .eu to the worldwide list of domain names. A decision by ICANN can only be taken at their monthly board meetings, making the earliest possible date for agreement mid-November...

...EURid originally budgeted six months from completion of the contract to the first registrations, but "that was in an EU of 15", said Mr van Wesenmael, adding, "our biggest problem is with translation". After the technical and translation details have been finalised, the .eu domain name will become available for registration for companies with trademarks before going on general release to the public.

This so-called "sunrise period" will last four months, meaning that, according to EURid's estimations, the "best-case scenario" for the general public to register a domain name would be August 2005.

...The EURid business plan projects one million subscribed in the first year. This compares to 8 million registered with a .de domain name (Germany) and approximately 4 million for .uk. Mr van Wesenmael suspects many registrations will be so-called "defensive registrations". This is when a company registers with a new domain name to prevent "cybersquatters" taking over their name.

...A Commission official dealing with the issue told the EUobserver that the EU institutions were likely to sign up to the new domain name, allowing them to drop the .int domain they currently use. The European Parliament would therefore become www.europarl.eu and the European Commission www.europa.eu.

Comments

[Nandu]

Esperemos que a Berlusconi lo jzuugen y lo condenen, pero no sólo por la Ruby Robacorazones, sino por mafioso y ladrón.