.EU delayed to Q1 2005, residency required!

[aww]

Though the language and authority of this article is not completely clear, apparently EURid has now expressed that .EU ccTLD will be delayed for public registrations until the first quarter of 2005, and is introducing a residency requirement!

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/35435.html

They are working out a validation agency. This is not good (for many of us).

.eu will see the first two phase sunrise period. The first two-month registration will be reserved for trademark owners, the next two months will allow the owners of all other naming rights to register in advance of the official start........

.....After applying for the domain with EURid, the potential registrant has to bring proof for his claim on the name in front of a "validation agent". If he is the first to register and can prove his rights with documents, he wins. To check registered trademarks will be the easiest task; but what about family names -protected in one member country and not another?

"We just published a call of interest for a validation agency," Howard says. "You want the job?"

 

[Wilfredo]

Thats good news ^^

 

[aww]

Heh for you. I'd trade my .US registration ability for .EU anyday.
I can't believe how much they are delaying this lauch.
Most anticipated TLD ever!

 

[Anthony]

Great, another country TLD with residency restrictions.

 

[Bill1]

this sucks

 

[Dimitry]

Hmm I have a feeling that a big agency (that is located on the allowed territory) will emerge that will register domains for you on their behalf.

It seems like they're gonna loose a lot of business by only allowing registrations there and excluding US

Bad news though yeah
Dimitry

 

[RJ]

Anyone planning on going after .EU domains?

The extension looks appealing, but this could be a case where over-regulation kills it.

 

[bensontwenty]

I'll be going after a few I think - AND I will have residency rights - possibly a holding service might be a good idea to set up for non EU residents to register them.

Might be worth looking into

 

[aww]

A holding company would be useless if they set a rule for physical presence of the company/person running on the domain.

For virtual products that have no shipping, they might slip through the cracks, but anyone that needs to do any kind of shipping that originates from elsewhere, the whistle could be blown and the domain pulled from them.

For any business, competitors will definitely be hunt for improper registrations.

 

[Anthony]

Originally posted by -RJ-
Anyone planning on going after .EU domains?

The extension looks appealing, but this could be a case where over-regulation kills it.

I would if I move to Europe magically!