As of 7 December 2005 public bodies, companies and later even individuals from the different Member States of the European Union will be able to register their own domain name with .eu extension. That is the result of a decision by the Board of .eu registry EURid.

To apply for their own domain, all parties concerned should turn to an accredited registrar. In order to ensure a fair and correct treatment of all applications, EURid and the European Commission have put together a procedure for phased registration, also known as “Sunrise”.

EURid is a European nonprofitorganisation, founded by the national registries of Belgium, Italy and Sweden, with the support of the registries of the Czech Republic and Slovenia. The European Commission assigned EURid to manage the .eu domain names. EURid will not be working alone: in the different countries of the Union, a network of local registrars will process all applications.

To allow organisations and companies to protect their domain name against abusive registration by cyber squatters, a phased registration system (also referred to as “Sunrise”) was put into place. During the Sunrise period, domain names will be made available only to the holders of prior rights, who will be asked to back up their claim with documentary evidence.

In phase 1 (starting Wednesday 7 December 2005 until Monday 6 February 2006) only public bodies and the holders of registered trademarks can apply for registration.

In phase 2 (7 February until 6 April 2006) claims may also come from the holders of other prior rights. In this phase company names and artistic names may claim registration of a corresponding .eu domain.

In phase 3 (starting 7 April 2006) registration is open to all, and claims to a .eu domain name no longer require backup by a legal right.

It is important to know that all phases follow the firstcome firstserved principle. In phases 1 and 2 (during the Sunrise period), the owners of prior rights to a name are protected to a certain extent, since proof of such a right must back up every claim. Nevertheless, if during Sunrise different organisations claim the same name, the order in which the claims were received will be taken into account. Therefore, it might still be important to state claims as soon as possible. More information about the details of the registration procedures is available on EURid’s web site www.eurid.eu as of now, as well as through the accredited local “.eu registrars” who are also listed on the same site. These registrars will equally offer detailed pricing information. In fact, the price to register a .eu domain name may vary according to the additional services offered by each individual registrar.

Companies that are interested in becoming an accredited registrar will find all necessary information on Eurid’s web site (www.eurid.eu).

Everyone who wants to know more can visit one of the road shows organised by EURid : in Brussels on 10 October, in Ljubljana (Slovenia) on 17 October, in Pisa (Italy) on 21 October, in Stockholm (Sweden) on 26 October, in Prague (Czech Republic) on 8 November and in Madrid (Spain) on 10 November 2005.