.fr
.fr is the ccTLD for France. It is managed by the Association Française pour le Nommage Internet en Coopération (A.F.N.I.C.).[1]
Rules and Restrictions[edit | edit source]
Individuals, companies, organizations or international bodies can have a .fr domain name. Individuals must reside in one of the Member States of the European Union or in Switzerland, Lichtenstein, Norway or Iceland. For French or foreign businesses, the registered office or main place of business must also be located in the EU or the territories mentioned above.
French laws and the Naming Charter require you to follow a few simple rules when choosing a domain name. Before registering it through your Registrar, make sure the name chosen:
- does not include terms that might impinge on public order or morality or rights guaranteed by the French Constitution or French law;
- does not include terms that might infringe intellectual property rights or personality rights, unless you can show that you have a legitimate interest and are acting in good faith;
- is not identical or similar to that of the French Republic, a regional or local authority or group of regional or local authorities or a national or local public institution or service, unless you can show that you have a legitimate interest and are acting in good faith;
- does not appear on the list of terms subject to prior review.[2]
Characters[edit | edit source]
The following alphanumeric characters are accepted for use in domain names: a, à, á, â, ã, ä, å, æ, b, c, ç, d, e, è, é, ê, ë, f, g, h, i, ì, í, î, ï, j, k, l, m, n, ñ, o, ò, ó, ô, õ, ö, œ, p, q, r, s, t, u, ù, ú, û, ü, v, w, x, y, ý, ÿ, z, ß, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, - (hyphen; minus sign).
Domain names that fall under the following criteria cannot be registered:
- begin or end with a hyphen “-”;
- more than 63 characters in length;
- consist of the “-” (hyphen) in the third and fourth position, except for ASCII-encoded versions in which the label is prefixed with “xn--”.[3]