 PARIS, Dec. 7 - They could not agree on a single constitution, and now it looks like Europeans cannot agree on the best way to identify themselves on the Internet.
"I like '.eu'!"
"Sounds too much like 'eeee-yew'!"
"Does not!"
"Does, too!" |
For the first time, residents of the 25-nation European Union could today register Internet addresses ending in ".eu."
"I think we should use '.bob'. It's friendlier!"
"I think all our web pages should be required to be in Flemish!" |
The move, which lifts .eu to the same prominence as the Web site suffixes .com, .org and .net, is intended to allow the expression of a single European identity in cyberspace. But the arrival of dot-eu is also dividing the Union. Some of those who run the domain names for individual European Union countries are preparing a campaign to promote their own national addresses, arguing that .fr for France or .it for Italy conveys important cultural information.
"You can't have '.it' web pages written in Flemish!"
"We can if we issue a directive!"
"We'll need a conference for that..."
"I'll call the caterer!" |
"In this case, there is an inherent competition between individual countries and the E.U.," said Alberto Pérez, deputy director for international relations at Red.es, the government agency that manages the registration of the nation's .es suffix. "Our duty is to promote our country's domain name, not the E.U."
| "Sounds too much like 'eeeee-yew' to me. And I think all web pages should be written in Basque!" |
The company overseeing the .eu domain name, a Brussels-based nonprofit called EURid,
| Editors' note: We did not make that up. |
dismissed the idea that there could be any rivalry with national domain names. "We have no intention of being competitive," said Kurt Vincent, spokesman for EURid.
| "We're not even quite sure what 'competitive' means!" |
The idea for .eu originated with the European Commission in 2000, back when the euro was about to be adopted by many members of the European Union and plans for adding 10 countries to the Union were speeding along. Cross-border commerce was aggressively pushed by many in the business world, along with the euro, and a dot-eu address was seen by some as helping ease Union-wide trade.
"But they have to be in Flemish. And use frames."
"I think they should be designed for 640x480, too."
"Can we have popups?"
"They'll have to be mandatary." |
But there is already widespread use of so-called country-code domain names, like .de for Germany, which are also often considered sovereign property and allotted by a government arm. The .de suffix for Germany, for example, accounts for 11 percent of all registered domains, while .uk accounts for another 5 percent. In response to the European Union Internet address, Spain and up to five other national domain registries in Europe plan a marketing push in the coming weeks, according to Giovanni Seppia, general manager of Centr, a Brussels organization that represents country-level registrars. Seppia said he could not provide details, leaving that up to the national registries. But, he said, "looking at the success of such campaigns in Spain and Mexico, I think they will have quick growth and challenge the .eu."
"See what I mean? Should have gone with '.bob'."
"We can't use that. Microsoft owns it."
"We could take them to court again." |
The government of Spain, for example, has increased the number of .es-registered Web addresses from 80,000 in July to more than 250,000 this month after promoting the address as a cultural unifier - and by cutting the price and easing the registration process. "The .es suffix implies something friendly and from Spain, as well as something for the entire Spanish-speaking community of 400 million people worldwide," Mr. Pérez said. "We will not stop promotion because the E.U. name starts being sold."
| "The '.eu' domain doesn't give you that flamenco flavor." |
By using .es instead of .eu, Mr. Pérez said, "if you are a Spanish company you might want to show your national colors, and if you are a multinational you might want to show that you can speak the local language."
"Which, I might add, isn't Flemish."
"It's not Basque, either!"
"Sometimes it is..." |
Dot-eu, on the other hand, will be useful only for "consultants in Brussels and major companies that need to do a defensive registration," Mr. Pérez said. So-called defensive registration is when trademark holders register their name in all possible domains in order to avoid having a competitor buy a Web site with their name. For .eu, registration is open from now until April only for those with prior claims to a name via trademark or other means. Online registration companies pay EURid annual registration fees ranging from about $41 to $99 through April. The EURid fee will then be reduced somewhat, though registration companies may charge more.
| Yeah. That looks like a brilliant marketing plan. |
Already, first-day sales through 4 p.m. today totaled nearly 100,000, with the vast majority coming from companies claiming national trademarks, Mr. Vincent of EURid said.
| There goes my chance at owning "feta.eu", I guess. I'll have to stick with liederkranz.de. |
The first three domain names, which were applied for within two seconds of the site's opening, were tickets.eu, job.eu and hotels.eu. The most requested domain names, on the other hand, were sex.eu, hotel.eu, travel.eu and jobs.eu. Names with multiple requests - there are 204 claimants to the domain sex.eu - will be examined by the company to determine who has the strongest case.
| Right. They'll examine the screen shots over lunch. |
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