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Europe pushes ahead with .eu The European Commission has now adopted a proposal to create a registry to run the dot-eu top-level domain. The proposal will be presented to the Council of Ministers and discussed with the European Parliament in detail over the next few weeks. The .eu domain has been a hot topic for a long time now and a great deal of discussion and preparation has gone into making this top level domain a reality. The domain will enable companies to highlight their presence within the European Union and also enhance e-commerce across the 15 states. This proposal brings the reality one-step closer, although it is unlikely that it will be available to the public much before the middle of next year. The domain aims to help end legal disputes over legal jurisdiction by creating an area on the Internet where e-commerce operations are undisputedly run under EU law. The Commission also plans to crack down on cybersquatting and introduce a new arbitration process to resolve domain name disputes. .au regulatory body endorsed The au Domain
Adminstration (auDA), the body controlling administration of .au
domain names, has received official Australian Government endorsement.
In order to qualify, it had to be able to prove that it:
Proctor & Gamble sells flu.com Proctor & Gamble, one of the world's biggest companies, is selling one hundred of its domain names in its portfolio, which it no longer considers fits into the company's business plan. It has sold flu.com for an undisclosed sum, whilst other names such as romantic.com, sensitive.com and beautiful.com have been put on the market for between $1million and $3million each. Time Warner wins Harry Potter names Time Warner Entertainment Co. was this week granted ownership of 107 Harry Potter-related domain names, following a ruling by the United Nations' World Intellectual Property Organisation. The company, which holds the marketing rights to Harry Pottter, was awarded the names, including www.harrypotterinhollywood.com and www.harrypotterfilm.org, which had previously been registered by a HarperStephens of Agoura Hills, California. The UN panel, in submitting its decision ruled that HarperStephens had no rights to the domain names and could discern no motive in registering them other than that of preventing the owner of the mark from reflecting the mark in a corresponding domain name.
NetNames provides users with new domain name knowledge ~ gtld.co.uk launched as demand for information on new generic top level domains increases ~ NetNames, the UK's leading domain name registrar, has reported rapidly increasing demand for information from companies and individuals interested in registering their domain name with the new suffixes. It has noted that interest in the new generic top level domains (gTLDs) is growing. The company has set up an information site, gtld.co.uk to act as a news and information portal and to cope with all the queries it is receiving. The web site will be the first point of reference for people requiring information on the new suffixes, which will be released in the middle of next year. These include .info, for general information sites, which will be the first competitor to .com and the first truly global domain name. Other new 'restricted' domain suffixes include .biz, .name, .musuem and .pro, which will require registrants to confirm their status before registration is permitted. The new domain names will enable greater ease of navigation on the Internet, and end the artificial shortage of domain names which currently exists. The web site will inform people of any developments, including the launch of the so-called 'Sunrise Period' - the 90-day window before the suffixes are made available to the general public, during which time trademark holders can apply to register their domain names. "Ever since ICANN announced which top level domains would be made available, we've been receiving a lot of enquiries about the new top level domains. If people have a query they can submit it and let us know which domains they are interested in," said Jonathan Robinson, CEO of NetBenefit. "As soon as there are any developments, such as the launch of the Sunrise Period, or indeed the domains themselves, we will let people know via the web site and our weekly newsletter, N3 Lite." "With the new domains not coming into operation until the middle of next year, we expected quite a lot of interest prior to their launch. However even we have been surprised at how much interest the new gTLDs have generated. This new web site will hopefully impart the relevant information to the people who require it," he continued.
Top 10 domains in UK Home users, October 2000
Source: MMXI Europe
When launching new products and services, check for domain name availability before naming them, and making any announcements public. This will ensure that problems with cybersquatters are kept to a minimum and your brands can be effectively developed on the Internet. To check availability of a particular domain name, simply enter the name into the search function of any reputable domain name registrar who uses the Whois database, e.g. www.netnames.co.uk
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