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Q. Who is entitled to register
a .eu domain name?
Q. Who is EURid?
Q. When Will the Sunrise Period
Begin?
Q. Can I pre-register a .eu
domain directly with EURid?
Q. How can I recognize an
accredited .eu Registrar?
Q. Can I protect my .eu domain
name against abusive registration?
Q. Has the Pre-registration
period started already, and how does it work?
Q. I have an EU community
trademark but my company is based outside of the EU. Can I
register a .eu domain name?
Q. Where can I find more information
concerning the creation of the .eu top level domain (TLD)?
Q. Who is entitled to register
a .eu domain name?
A. The EC Regulation No 733/2002 of 22 April
2002 on the implementation of the .eu Top Level Domain determines
who will be allowed to apply for a .eu domain name.
The following categories of companies, organisations and
individuals will be able to register a .eu domain:
- undertakings having their registered office, central
administration or principal place of business within the
European Community;
- organisations established within the European Community
without prejudice to the application of national law;
- natural persons resident within the European Community.
The full text of the EC Regulation 733/2002 can be found
here
(PDF requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)
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Q. Who is EURid?
A. EURid, or "The European Registry
of Internet Domain Names" is the organization that has
been chosen by the European Commission to manage the .eu TLD.
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Q. When Will the
Sunrise Period Begin?
A. EURid has now released the dates for
the three Sunrise periods:
- 7 Dec 2005 - Start of Sunrise Phase 1
Public bodies and holders of trademarks.
- 7 Feb 2006 - Start of Sunrise Phase 2
Those eligible to apply in phase 1 plus holders
of other rights recognised in the national law of a member
state may apply for the corresponding name.
- 7 April 2006 - General Registration
Sunrise period closes and registrations open on a first-come-first-served
basis. Validation of names applied for during sunrise continues
until task completed.
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Q. Can I pre-register
a .eu domain directly with EURid?
A. No. EURid does not accept direct requests
for .eu domain names. Starting on June 16 2005, EURid began
to accredit a network of .eu registrars and since then publishes
a list of accredited registrars on their web site. Those wanting
a .eu name need to select one of those registrars in order
to request a .eu name. Once .eu registrars are accredited
they are allowed to accept pre-registrations for their customers.
At the start of the live registrations, they will introduce
their pre-registrations in the automated systems of EURid
for processing. In case certain domain names are pre-registered
several times, the automated systems will determine on a "first
come, first served" basis which pre-registration will
eventually lead to a definitive registration (the huge load
of simultaneous applications will also generate a randomising
effect).
Those who 'pre-register' a domain name should recognise that
it can only be a provisional request until such time as the
Registrant Terms and Conditions are available. All .eu domain
name holders will be required to formally accept the terms
and conditions before their names can be registered. Your
registrar should ask you for your acceptance in advance of
submitting your domain registration to us when .eu goes live.
The registrant terms and conditions will be published during
the summer of 2005.
There will first be a sunrise period to allow public bodies
and holders of certain prior rights to register their names.
The sunrise period will consist of two consecutive phases
each lasting two months. The start of the "sunrise period"
will be announced by EURid well in advance in order to allow
sufficient time for the introduction of the applications.
If you pre-register a name on which you do not have prior
rights, you should be aware that it could be registered to
another party who does have a right during the sunrise period.
In order to be informed about the latest information on the
"sunrise period" it is recommended to pay a visit
to the main site of EURid at regular times.
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Q. How can I recognize
an accredited .eu Registrar?
A. All .eu registrars will be listed on
the EURid website indicating the language(s) in which they
offer services. Clicking on the name of the registrar will
take you directly to the website of the registrar.
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Q. Can I protect
my .eu domain name against abusive registration?
A. Yes. Before the start of the live registrations
under .eu there will be a so called "sunrise period".
During this period public bodies and holders of certain rights
(e.g. trademark holders) will have the opportunity to apply
for the registration of the corresponding .eu domain name.
The sunrise period will consist of two consecutive phases
each lasting two month.
During phase 1 only domain names that correspond with:
- The full name of a public body
- The acronym by which a public body is commonly know
- If applicable, the territory which is governed by a public
body
- Registered community or national trademarks
- Geographical indications
may be applied for by the public body or holder/licensee
of the trademark
During phase 2 domain names that correspond with
- the names listed in phase 1
- other rights that are protected under the national law
of the member state where they are held such as:
- company names
- obusiness identifiers
- odistinctive titles of protected literary
and artistic work
- ounregistered trademarks
- otrade names
It is important to remember that not all the rights listed
are recognised in each member state. Applicants will be required
to provide the legal basis that grants the right in community
law or the national law of the member state where the right
is held and provide documentary evidence which is accepted
to demonstrate the right under that law.
These applications will be evaluated by appointed Validation
Agents and in case of approval the ultimate registration of
the corresponding .eu domain name will be done automatically
through the accredited .eu registrar chosen by the applicant.
The start of the "sunrise period" will be announced
by EURid well in advance in order to allow sufficient time
for the introduction of the applications. In order to get
informed about the latest details on the "sunrise period"
it is recommended to pay a visit to the main site of EURid
(www.eurid.eu) at regular times.
Once the "sunrise period" has been closed and the
live registrations start, domains will be attributed on a
"first come, first served" basis. If, for some circumstances,
you would have missed the opportunity for a protective registration
during the "sunrise period" and your domain has
been registered by somebody else, you will still have the
possibility to claim it back by making use of the alternative
dispute resolution procedures.
You can read more about the rules of the sunrise period in
the European Commission's Public Policy Rules for .eu available
in a number of EU languages here.
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Q. Has the Pre-registration
period started already, and how does it work?
A. At this moment it is not yet possible to register a .eu
domain name nor to make an official pre-registration for such
a domain.
Once .eu registrars are accredited they are allowed to accept
pre-registrations for their customers. At the start of the
live registrations, they will introduce their pre-registrations
in the automated systems of EURid for processing. In case
certain domain names were pre-registered several times, the
automated systems will determine on a "first come, first
served" basis which pre-registration will eventually
lead to a definitive registration (the huge load of simultaneous
applications will also generate a randomising effect).
Those who request a domain name from an accredited registrar
should recognise that this can only be a provisional request
until such time as the registrant terms and conditions are
available. All .eu domain name holders will be required to
formally accept those terms and conditions before their name
can be registered.
Prior to the start of the registrations under .eu there will
also be a so called "sunrise period". During this
period holders of certain rights (e.g. trademark holders)
will have the opportunity to apply for the registration of
the corresponding .eu domain name. If you pre-register a name
and do not have prior rights, you should be aware that the
name could be registered to a party with prior rights to that
name during the sunrise period and that pre-registration does
not guarantee that you will get a particular name.
A while ago it came to our attention that a number of companies
had already started offering pre-registration services. These
pre-registrations have no official character whatsoever and
there is absolutely no guarantee that you will succeed in
registering the corresponding domain at the start of the live
registrations. Moreover, if a company that offers pre-registration
services doesn't become an accredited registrar of EURid,
he will have to pass on all his pre-registrations to such
an accredited registrar. All pre-registrations will need to
be introduced in the automated systems of EURid prior to the
official start of the live registrations under .eu (and after
the closing of the "sunrise period") and will be
processed the moment that .eu opens up for live registrations.
In case certain domain names were pre-registered several times
with different registrars, the automated systems will determine
on "first come, first served" basis which pre-registration
will eventually lead to a definitive registration.
If you would consider to accept certain offers for pre-registration
by above mentioned companies, we advise to take the following
into account:
- What policy will the registrar adopt if several applications
are received for the same domain? Will only one registration
be submitted for the first application that the registrar
received, or will a different policy be adopted?
- Does the registrar take payment for pre-registration
or does he require payment only when the domain names is
successfully registered?
- Pre-registration gives absolutely no guarantee that you
will actually be granted the .eu domain name
- The date when registrations within the .eu domain will
actually come into effect is unknown at present.
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Q. I have an EU
community trademark but my company is based outside of the
EU. Can I register a .eu domain name?
A. No. EC
Regulation No 733/2002 states that only the following
categories of companies, organisations and individuals will
be able to register a .eu domain:
- undertakings having their registered office, central
administration or principal place of business within the
European Community;
- organisations established within the European Community
without prejudice to the application of national law;
- natural persons resident within the European Community.
The full text of the EC Regulation 733/2002 can be found
here.
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Q. Where can I
find more information concerning the creation of the .eu top
level domain (TLD)?
A. The initiative for the creation of a
.eu TLD came from the European Commission. Background information
on the different steps of implementation and reference to
the legal and regulatory documents concerning .eu can be found
on the following website:
http://europa.eu.int/information_society/index_en.htm
English
http://europa.eu.int/information_society/index_fr.htm
French
http://europa.eu.int/information_society/index_de.htm
German
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