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Good news is we're getting closer to the rollout of .EU These domains are going to be highly sought after by speculators when then finally release.
Links:
EURid
Source: Demy'sEURid TO RUN .EU
22nd May, 2003
The European Commission has announced that it has chosen the EURid consortium to run the new .eu top level domain. EURid is a not for profit organisation built around the Belgian, Italian and Swedish registries.
This decision is the latest step in the process of creating the new European Top Level Domain. EURid responded to the Call for Expression of Interest that was launched by the European Commission in August last year. A panel of independent experts then evaluated the bids and indicated EURid as the best choice to run the .eu registry. The consortium is made of three European-based registries:
belgian registry
The Belgian registry (DNS BE) liberalised its domain name system at the end of 2000, an experience that is perhaps similar to the creation of a new registry. EURid will make use of DNS BE's automated registry system - considered as one of the more sophisticated registry systems available.
italian registry
The Italian registry (IIT-CNR) - part of the Italian National Research Council - has developed tools for securing electronic transactions and their familiarity with security systems and their experience of running the .it registry will be a key factor in the success of the .eu registry.
swedish registry
The Swedish registry (NIC-SE) has been involved in the creation of Internet standards and has a long standing tradition of interactive consultation with the local and international Internet Community. This experience will be crucial in the start up phase of .eu. Recently, .se has made the step to an open and unrestricted registry. (see: Sweden gets even more liberal)
EURid's head office will be located in Brussels and will house the main development and operational teams, as well as the support organisation focused on the central region. Other regional offices overlooking the northern and southern regions will be established in Sweden and Italy.
EURid will work exclusively through a network of registrars to promote competition. The registrars will have a completely automated registration system at their disposal to register .eu domain names for their customers, with minimal or no human intervention from the registry.
Although the .eu TLD is a relative latecomer to the market, EURid estimates that a potential of 1 million domain names in operation after the first year is still possible.
next steps
In the coming weeks, negotiations will take place between the European Commission and EURid to finalise the agreement and to establish the public policy for the .eu registry. Once the administrative part is finalised, including the delegation from ICANN, EURid estimates that .eu can go live within the next 6 months.
It is clear that a lot of issues still need to be resolved and that some will depend on the definition of the public policy and on further negotiations with the European Commission. However, the latest development is to be welcomed as a positive step on the road to the introduction of the new domain.
Links:
EURid