|
News Releases
No. 123/05
December 08, 2005
“.eu”: Europe’s New Internet Address Opened for Business
The
“.eu” top-level domain, which enables businesses,
public bodies and citizens to choose a pan-European
Internet name for their websites and e-mail addresses,
opened for business yesterday, 7 December 2005. An “.eu”
suffix enables users to project a Europe-wide presence,
ambition or affiliation. It complements, but does not
replace, national country codes such as France’s “.fr,”
Poland’s “.pl” or the UK’s “.uk.” A sunrise period of 4
months will allow holders of prior rights – including
businesses – to apply for the registration of domain
names provided they are settled in the European Union.
From 7 April 2006, the Registry will open its doors for
applications from the general public. With the launch of
.eu, the European Commission lives up to the promise made at the
Lisbon European Council in 2000 to give Europe’s
Information Society an identity on the web under
reliable EU rules.
“I expect Europe’s top level domain .eu to become
similarly important as .com,” said
 Information Society
and Media Commissioner
Viviane Reding
(pictured at left). “For businesses,
.eu will extend their marketing reach, while protecting
them under EU law against cybersquatters. As a citizen,
an ".eu" address can help making your web presence or
that of your school, university or club more visible
across the European Union. Europe’s new top level domain
therefore offers a unique opportunity for modern online
marketing across borders.”
A domain name is used to identify a computer or network
on the Internet. Examples include "europa.eu" and the
part following the "@" in any email address. Top Level
Domains (TLDs) are at the heart of the international
Internet domain name system – they are the "suffix" at
the end of the domain name and come in two basic
categories:
generic TLDs (gTLDs) – that are not tied to any country,
such as “.com,” “.org,” “.net” and “.int”; and
country code TLDs (ccTLDs), such as “.uk,” “.fr,” “.de,”
etc.
The .eu top level domain is managed and operated by a
private, not-for-profit Registry, EURid[1], selected by
the Commission following an open call. EURid will
register applications for the registration of domain
names through a large net of accredited Registrars. The
registration of domain names can only be requested
through one of these accredited Registrars. A list of
all registrars and the languages in which registration
is offered, can be found on the following website:
http://list.eurid.eu/registrars/ListRegistrars.htm?lang=en.
Initially, the possibility to apply for the registration
of “.eu” names is reserved to trademark holders and
public bodies (from 7 December 2005 to 6 February 2006).
This possibility will then be extended to holders of
other “prior rights,” such as company names or business
identifiers (from 7 February to 6 April 2006). Finally,
from 7 April 2006, anyone established in the European
Union at all may apply to register an “.eu” domain name.
The “first come, first served” principle will apply for
any applications received during the initial four months'
phase and beyond. Therefore, if two applicants have a
prior right on the same name, the Registry will register
the application that it received first. The same
principle will apply once the Registry opens its doors
for everybody from 7 April 2006.
Further Information
EURid’s homepage:
http://www.eurid.eu/en/registrant/
Decision on “.eu” by ICANN (Internet Corporation For
Assigned Names and Numbers):
http://www.icann.org/announcements/announcement-23mar05.htm
European Commission fact sheet on “.eu”:
http://europa.eu.int/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemlongdetail.cfm?item_id=2331
MEMO/05/457
[1] EURid (European Registry of Internet Domain Names)
is the working title for the non-profit consortium of 3
registries: DNS-BE (Belgium), IIT CNR (Italy) and NIC SE
(Sweden).
Further Contact Information
Press and Media Relations
Delegation of the European Commission
2300 M Street, NW
Washington, DC 20037
http://www.eurunion.org/PressRoom
Tel: 202-862-9552
Fax: 202-429-1766
|
