By Will Sturgeon, 22 February 2006 16:20
NEWS
Relations between the EU and the UK have at times been strained but that should be no reason for UK companies to ignore the potential of registering a dot-eu domain name.
By the 7 April general release of dot-eu domains, pre-registrations for trademarked brands, as well as some predictably in-demand domains such as sex.eu, are expected to hit 1.5 million. However, UK names are conspicuous by their absence.
Registrar Nominet told silicon.com UK applications for dot-eu domains account for less than one in 10. Nominet said it's likely UK companies are standing by the value of their dot-uk brands.
Damian Schmidt, CEO of rival domain name registrar Strato, told silicon.com: "We think that in Great Britain the dot-eu domain just isn't a topic which is interesting people."
But he said that attitude could ultimately prove costly.
Germany currently accounts for 30 per cent of registrations, the Netherlands for 16 per cent and France for 11 per cent, said Schmidt. The UK meanwhile is languishing in fourth place on nine per cent.
Schmidt said he isn't sure whether that is for political reasons, or whether UK businesses are simply unaware of the opportunity but he urged businesses to realise the potential of owning their dot-eu domain and warned them to consider the problems of not doing so.
However, a spokeswoman for Nominet criticised the process for registering dot-eu domains, saying it may have discouraged companies from signing up.
Furthermore, she added: "Many businesses do not feel the need or do not want to register a dot-eu domain name when they already have a well recognised dot-uk brand in which people have confidence and trust."
But Schmidt claimed: "Dot-eu will be as strong as dot-com in a couple of years," predicting that it will overtake a lot of smaller country-specific European top level domains fairly quickly in terms of prestige.
Currently pre-registration is going through two 'sunrise' periods when registered trademarks can ensure they get their domains on board. Come 7 April it will be a land-grab.
Schmidt said major dot-com companies such as Amazon have already signed-up their dot-eu domain but he predicts that those companies who leave it until 7 April or later to register their domains will find themselves either missing out or embroiled in protracted wrangling to reclaim their domain.
Comments
There are 7 comments. Join the discussion
1. anonymous
That's all well and good, but as always, the red tape is the issue and may well turn off UK businesses.
We attempted to register a domain which was an exact match to our registered company name. We went to great lengths to provide all the necessary documentation and yet even though we have the same .com and .co.uk registered domains, we were told we did not meet their criteria?
It was only after a successful appeal process did we get the .eu domain. Can't help thinking this is another crazy euro issue...having an overly complicated proceedure so as to justify having an excess of staff / admin resources...which we all ultimately pay for.
2. anonymous
i would have thought the main reason uk businesses would buy the .eu domain is to stop domain squatting.
if a company isn't international then there would be little point and if it is then the .com tld is still and probably will be for a long time, the best choice for most businesses.
unless you only do business within the EU or just within Europe, which some people seem to forget isn't the same thing.
Also if the UK is missing out and we are 4th in the list, what about Italy and Spain and Ireland etc. etc.? They must be really missing out.
3. Tony Quinn
ISP's and registrars are charging a NON REDFUNDABLE submission fee for .EU domain names - some £80 and £100 - nice little number (for them) - isn't this one of the reasons for slow take up?
4. anonymous
Forgive the cynicism but is this why .us domains are so popular? :-)
5. Mark Ryder
All well and good, but one of the major obstacles for UK companies is that it appears just being registered at companies house is NOT enough proof for Sunrise applications, and any UK company will need legal help (=cost) to get a sworn affidavit from a lawyer to support their claim.
This is not true in many other EU countries, so is a major dis-incentive to apply during the Sunrise period.
6. Pamela Edwards, Accountable Effect Ltd
I don't recall such problems when the more recent 'new' domains such as net, org, tv etc.
I did not have to submit my company details to prove the right to purchase the domain names I have bought in the past.
What's so 'special' about .eu
7. Richard Gunner
Having just tried, and failed, to register an eu domain name for a company, I should point out that the UK and Ireland are different from the rest of European countries. We have to provide a significantly more onerous level of proof of right to the name, probably including a signed affidavit from a solicitor. Mind you, it's not clear exactly what is required, and different sites give different advice.
There is no justification given for the difference, as far as I can see.