The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) yesterday gave the green light to the EURid consortium’s proposal for the implementation of the long-awaited top-level Internet domain applicable to the European Union, the «.eu», whose entry into force has been often postponed.
The «.eu» domain was approved by the European Commission in March 2002, and the European Registry of Internet Domain names (EURid) was the entity chosen to manage it (see Related News).
As soon as the technical changes necessary for the domain to function are made, EURid will start to accredit a network of registrars who will then be able to accept their customers’ pre-registration. The network is expected to be completed in May, when a list of «associates» will be released on the EURid website.
During the coming months, EURid will also have to complete the registration policy for «.eu», which will have to be approved by the European Commission and published two months before registrations start.
If the registration policy for the new Internet domain is quickly approved by the European executive, the so-called registration period sunrise – a registration phase reserved for trademarks and other entities or individuals with previously owned name rights who want to add the suffix “.eu” to their designations – should advance before the end of the year, guarantees the consortium. PricewaterhouseCoopers Belgium was the company chosen by EURid to validate complaints that arise at this stage.
Related News:
2004-10-14 – .eu domain getting closer to integrating Internet space
2003-05-22 – European Commission confirms EURid selection for the management of the «.eu» top level domain
