By the end of this year, all the necessary procedures must be fulfilled for the .eu domain to be operational. In the coming days, the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) will place the domain «.ue» in the roots of the Internet, following an agreement signed on 21 March between the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and EURid .
If everything goes as planned, in early 2006, companies and citizens will finally have the opportunity to register, safeguarding the possibility that public institutions and trademark holders will be able to start this process in the last quarter of this year.
Until now, companies in the European Union area could only choose between a specific top-level domain for each country, such as «.pt» for Portugal, or a general name such as «.com» or «.net». The new «.eu» domain will not replace existing ones, but will allow users to choose to create a pan-European identity in order to mark their presence on the internet.
The European Commission has finalized the operating rules for the domain to be launched, making the EURid entity responsible for the management and allocation of the first addresses in this domain, and allowing a negotiation between this consortium and ICANN in order to agree on a domain delegation «. me». This agreement, now approved by the Commission, is waiting for ICANN to recognize EURid as the body designated to manage the «.eu» top for five years.
The IANA will also make it possible to include the «.ue» domain in the file address across the web, as soon as ICANN requests it, and provided that EURid completes the necessary technical changes. The goal is to finish the first registration phase, which started on its own late.
Related News:
2005-03-24 – Domain «.eu» receives approval from ICANN
