EURid suspends 74,000 .eu domain names

EURid has gained quite a reputation in the domain name business for establishing the European-centric .eu domain name suffix.

Now, this non-profit organization, operating the .eu top level domain, has decided to take legal action against what it sees as abusive behaviors from a syndicate of registrars who have systematically acquired .eu domains with the obvious intent of selling them. This activity is generally refered to as warehousing and it’s not permitted.

In this sweeping move, EURid has suspended 74,000 .eu domain names while suing 400 registrars for breach of contract.

Herman Sobrie, Legal Manager of EURid was even more specifici about the issue: “In this case we are convinced that the domain name holders of the 74 000 .eu names (Ovidio Ltd, Fausto Ltd and Gabino Ltd) are acting as a front for a number of registrars. The domain name holders and the registrars can be regarded as one and the same. Since registrars should only register domain names for existing customers and not warehouse the names in order to resell them at a higher price, this is clearly in breach of the registrar contract”.

Within the limits of the EC regulations (733/2002 & 874/2004), EURid is said to “strive to maintain .eu as an attractive top level domain for Europeans who want to convey a European Identity on the Internet”.

When the system is found to be abused, to such an alarming extent, there is a risk that the perceived value of the .eu domain name will decrease, not only for the almost two million legitimate holders of .eu domain names but also for all fair registrars.

That’s the main motivation behing EURid’s decision to act firmly against any improper behavior regarding .eu domain names.

In order to control quality, EURid consistently monitors the registrations of .eu domain names in order to make sure all holders of .eu domain names are based in the EU zone, as required by to the Public Policy Rules for .eu. In a similar fashion, EURid verifies that all accredited registrars are acting in the best interest of the end user in accordance with their contract with EURid.

A mere handful of .eu domain names have already been suspended as their holders have not been able to show that they are based within the EU.

The outcome of the suspended domain names now awaits a court decision while EURid would later like to make those names available for registration again.

Tags: eurid, domain names, domains, europe, european, legal, .eu