[FYI] Commission considers creation of dotEU Domain Name

["Axel H Horns" <horns@t-online.de>]

CORDIS RTD-NEWS/© European Communities, 2000.  

Record Control Number: 14280  

Date: 2000-02-08  

Category: General policy  

General Information:  

The European Commission has launched a public consultation on the 
creation of a new Internet Top Level Domain, dotEU.  

The proposal, one of the elements of Commission President Romano 
Prodi's eEurope initiative launched in December 1999, would 
strengthen the image and infrastructure of the Internet in Europe and 
allow the identification of companies and institutions as European.  

In the longer term it may strengthen the internal market and 
stimulate electronic commerce.  

The Internet Domain Name System (DNS) is the way in which businesses 
and individuals identify each other on the World Wide Web. The 
limited alternatives available in Europe have given rise to 
organisations and individuals seeking Internet registration in the US 
and elsewhere, for example with '.COM'. European Institutions 
themselves have had to adopt 'sub-optimal' solutions, including 
'.EU.INT' and '.CEC.BE'.  

Launching the dotEU idea, the Commissioner for Enterprise and the 
Information Society, Erkki Liikanen, said: 'The Commission has set 
the ball rolling. It is now up to the Internet community to let us 
know precisely how they would like to see the new Registry operate 
for the benefit of as wide a range of users in the European Union as 
possible'.  

The Commission's working document, 'The Internet Domain Name System 
Creation of the .EU Top Level Domain', has raised several issues for 
consultation, including how the registration policies should be 
prepared and implemented, and how dispute resolution policy should be 
formulated, with particular reference to trademarks.  

A public on-line discussion is now open. Interested parties can 
submit their comments and suggestions via e-mail to INFSO-Dot-EU-
Consult@cec.EU.int, or via the following Web page: 
http://europa.eu.int/comm/dg13/index.htm  

After a consultation period of six weeks, the Commission will make a 
decision on how to proceed, in cooperation with the Council and 
Parliament.  

Data Source Provider: European Commission Press and Information 
Service  

Document Reference: Based on press release IP/00/95 and consultation 
with Commission spokesmen.  

Subject Index Codes: Information Processing, Information Systems  

Related News: 14050