The European Commission is following with great interest the ongoing rush to purchase a .eu domain name and believe the new TLD is an indication of a renewed interest in Europe as a common marketplace of both citizens and industry.
Punto Informatico reported more than 700.000 domain names have been registered so far, nearly 25.000 of them have been taken by Italians.
So all well that ends well ? Not really. In actual fact there is a mounting protest and claims of downright foul play.
Bob Parsons, CEO and founder of GoDaddy.com, analyses what is happening and concludes accusing the EURid registry of “grand manipulation and lax administration” in a lengthy and detailed post.
Mr. Parsons explains in great detail the procedure to become a .EU registrar claiming “The requirements to be a .EU registrar were just too easy”, and goes on to explain how a few “sly companies” found a loophole in the process that is being exploited to take as many names as possible, with the intention of actioning them off on a first come first serve basis.
I also have a domain name in the pipeline. As it happens to be I performed a pre-registration with GoDaddy.com. I have been eagerly awaiting an Email advising me it is finally mine to keep but, it is yet to come.
Yesterday evening I called GoDaddy.com to find out just where I stand and what are my chances: The operator reported more than 30,000 .eu registrations have been submitted last Friday and 8.000 requests had been handled so far by EURid. I was told I’ll be notified as soon as my request is processed: In light of what I read this morning I might be in for a loooong wait …
This morning I ventured off to the EURid website to see if there had been an “interest” in the domain name I am actively seeking to register, and found 2 attempts of registration by a company without a website, that really has nothing to do with the domain name …
Sante J. Achille
Latest posts by Sante J. Achille (see all)
- European Interactive Advertising Association Report Dec. 2010 - December 21, 2010
- Buy Tourism Online 2010, Florence – Italy - November 17, 2010
- Statistics on Internet Usage in Italy September 2010 - November 15, 2010
