Buyers queue for .eu addresses

Sunrise period starts in December

Accredited domain name registrars are seeing a rush of organisations pre-registering for web sites that have the .eu suffix. Domain operator Eurid will meet with registrars in Prague on 8 November for further discussions before the submissions process begins in earnest this winter.

The “sunrise” phase of the .eu launch will start on 7 December, when public bodies and trademark holders can apply for corresponding names that signify a pan- European internet identity. A second phase for non-trademark holders starts on 7 February and general registration will open on 7 April.

Hostway, a UK web hosting and domain registration firm, said it had already received over 500 enquiries and predicted that .eu would be the biggest domain name launch since .com. “Of all the releases over the past decade, this is the biggest one,” said Paul Halfpenny, Hostway product manager.

Hostway’s survey of 200 business customers found 64 percent believe the domain will be important to their businesses in Europe, and 60 percent said customers will eventually use .eu rather than .com when seeking EU-based firms.

Another registrar said there may be difficult judgments over who gains the new names. “It’s the world’s first area top-level domain but it’s still first-come, first-served and there will be a land-rush,” said James Panton, director of IDR Management Services. “The .biz launch was a mess and it remains to be seen whether it will be better this time.”

Experts also warned against scams. Earlier this month, spammer Peter Francis-Macrae appeared in a UK court on charges including falsely selling .eu addresses.