Hosting 365

The auDA - Australian Domain Name Administrator - deregistered domain names matching the names of the two miners that were freed.

The auDA’s policy is similar to the IEDR except that it’s retroactive - as in, you can automatically register any domain, but as the policy states, you must be able to demonstrate a reasonable claim to it (trademark / registered business name).
Maybe this is a better model for the IEDR - let people register any .ie domain name, but if it looks suspicious, or if there is a compliant about it - request the relevant documentation from the registrant, and if they can’t provide it - delist the domain. This would allow the .ie system to be automated, making it a lot more efficient for purchasers and registrars, as well as reducing overhead work for the IEDR themselves (which in turn could help bring some price parity with the TLD’s, and grow .ie numbers)

So a system of ‘policing’ rather than micro-governance.

(From the Herald Sun)

Although called by many ‘arcane’ and ‘bureaucratic’, there are some benefits to the IEDR policies.

For example, a school rang our support line today wondering if there was anything she could do about an adult site with a domain name the same as the school she worked for. Realistically there’s not, as the name isn’t unique, although there’s no doubt the school had more right to it than a non-work-safe site.

Typically you can call your .com/net/org site anything you like. While some will argue that this is a right - you may not name your business with such freedom - it must pass the companies office screening procedure. Why should a domain name - which is essentially the same as a company name, trademark, or registered business name - be given unlimited leeway? At least the IEDR practice ensures some trademark and business name protection, and also assures against serious issues like adult sites taking names associated with schools. Aside from protecting business trademarks (since you have to prove ownership of the name you are trying to register), the policy also protects consumers from fraudulent people trying to capitalise on the brand value of other businesses.

Don’t take this post as a defence of all things IEDR, clearly there are other issues, and I’m sure they are working on these.

In short, the EURid allowed bogus and phantom registrars to game the system; many registrars took payment for .eu names they were unable to secure and are now refusing to refund the payment (they probably shouldn’t have charged the person until the domain was successfully processed anyway!); the EURid system collapsed under the weight of requests (how was this not predicted and extra hosting infrastrucutre leased for the first month?); and TONS of intellectual property, business names and trademarks have been stolen.

What’s inexcusable is that .EU represents the largest economy in the world, and with all the TLD’s and ccTLD’s introduced in the past few years should have had ample information on how to correctly define the process and provision adequate hardware.

I still don’t believe that .EU will take off, despite a lot of commentary that .EU will rival .COM, and that most registrations are for brand protection rather than new business. As I said in a previous post - what market does .EU service? Not Europe anyway - with all the various languages to cater for, ccTLD’s are far more appropriate; and certainly not the intercontinental / global market - which is serviced effectively by .COM.

By way of example … when was the last time you visited a .US site? And what’s the difference in .US and .EU?

For the past few months businesses could claim ownership of .EU domains if they had company registration or trademark documentation to support this claim - and 300,000 European Union wide did so.
On April 7th this pre-registration phase ends though, and anyone can register a .EU domain name.

Predictions are flying back and forth on how many domains will be registered, and how much of an impact .EU will have. To be sure in the first few months, many businesses will register a .EU to protect their trademark, and the hype will doubtless generate a few more sales, but in the medium-long term, what impact will the .EU TLD (top level domain) have?
First of all, where country domains such as .IE, .CO.UK, .NL and so on, do moderately well, that is primarily because they are VERY focussed on a specific nation. Whereas .EU is aimed at the entire European community - which is difficult to target on a single domain - because of the many languages involved.

I’m not sure where .EU fits in to be honest. As I said, a ccTLD (e.g. .co.uk) promotes the web site within a country - but where does .EU promote? .COM is arguably a better top-level or primary domain extension, as it’s generic and globally applicable. The .EU domain is really only useful for a company doing business ONLY in the EU and actually THROUGHOUT the EU (as oppose to within the business’s own country - in which case .be/.nl/.ie would suit better). And it’s more likely that a business would be international (EMEA / APAC) than just EU, as it’s actually easier do business with nations whose primary language is the same as the country of origin.
hosting365’s predictions on .EU registration numbers : the impact will be similar to that of .info and .biz : lots of hype, but the majority of registrations will be companies registering all TLD’s as a trademark protection exercise, and still using .com or the ccTLD as their primary domain.