Domain Name Policy in 2001

Boudewijn NederkoornChairman Council of European

National TLD Registries

• Emerging organizations in the Domain Name Area

• Trends in Naming Policies

- global- European- .nl; a case study

• WIPO Internet Domain Name Process

Emerging organizations in the Domain Name Area

General ICANN (new IANA)

DNSO

ccTLD specificCENTRE

APLTD

LACTLDAFTLDNATLD

WWTLD

Council of European National TLD Registries - CENTR

• focus on European ccTLDs

• project in 1998; 35 participants

• legal body early 1999

• decision on location November 1998

• 300 KECU yearly budget

Aspects of TLD Naming Policies

• first come, first served

• only organizations or also individuals can apply

• one name per holder or more

• restrictions on country of in corporation

• restrictions on choice of name

• dispute prevention and resolution

Trends in Naming Policies

Global

gTLDs liberal policy with few restrictions

ccTLDs partly operating as gTLDsrole of governments

Trends in Naming Policies

European

• diversity of naming policiesranging from strict (.se, .fr, .no)to liberal (.de, .dk, .uk)

• harmonization as a result of CENTR:

- exchange of views and experience

- documentation of practices- workshops

• slight tendency towards liberalization

Trends in Naming Policies

Registry .nl: a case study

non member organization (stability/continuity)

supporting organization based on membership

275 members; fee 1.000 $ per year

formal tasks SO relate to:- election 4 of 7 board

members- tariffs- naming policy

A case study: .NL

• Phase 1: 1986-1996

One man show

• Phase 2: 1996-1998

Establishment legal bodyEvaluation after two years

• Phase 3: 1999 -

New naming rules

Developing local TLD policy and naming rules

Phase 1 (until October 1996): • only organizations can register• only one name per organization• second Level Domains only• domain name must reflect name organization• no appeal possible

Phase 2 (up until now):• only organizations can register• second Level Domains only• generic names not allowed unless registered as trademark• appeals handled by the Registry

Conference on 9 June 1998:Evaluation and building consensus

Naming policy

• only organizations can register

• Second Level Domains only

• no direct reference to trademarks

• all names allowed except:- names that can be misleading in social life: (government, hospital, school)- names of branches in economic life (bookstore, hotels, autolease)

• appeals handled outside the Registry

Phase 3 (from 1999):

• dispute prevention• dispute resolution• famous marks in the gTLDs• new gTLDs and IP-rights

Regional consultations in Europe:

Brussels September 29Budapest October 22

WIPO Internet Domain Name Process

CENTR http://www.ripe.net/centr

.nl http://www.nic.nl

WIPO http://wipo2.wipo.int

URL’s