Ireland Plans Bid For EU Top-Level Domain Registry

by Amanda Banks, Tax-news.com, London

27 April 2001

The IE Domain Registry (IEDR) says it aims to create an Irish-based association of businesses to bid for the planned European Union top-level domain (TLD) central registry and run it from Ireland. According to a report in the Irish Times, it is not yet certain that the registry will be given the go ahead yet by the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers, who are due to vote on the decision within the next two months.

Michael Fagan, chief executive of IEDR, told the Irish Times that planning for a consortium now would place it in a strong position for when the European Commission requests tenders to operate the central registry.

The successful tender will be able to decide who uses the .eu domain registration which can be part of a website or e-mail address. The registry will not hand out registrations but will appoint registrars to provide offer registration services to entities throughout the European Union.

Mr Fagan is confident that Ireland has a strong argument to become the site for the proposed registry but other countries are also keen to vie for the tender such as France, which has already launched a campaign that plans to lobby hard for the position.

Mr Cormac Callanan, chairman of the Internet Service Provider's Association of Ireland as well as a member of the interim steering group that examined the .eu proposal, said that if the registry was established in the country, it would be a 'significant event for Ireland'.

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