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Förderverein Informationstechnik und Gesellschaft

Commission considers creation of dotEU Domain Name

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