Finnish Transport and Communications Agency
 | |
| Founded: | 1986 |
| Headquarters: | Itämerenkatu 3 A P.O. Box 313 FI-00181 Helsinki |
| Country: | Finland |
| Website: | www.viestintavirasto.fi/en/ |
FICORA is the organization which manages the country code top-level domain of Finland, .fi.
According to legislation approved on November 6th, 2014, requirements have changed for .fi domain name application. Finnish persons living abroad, as well as private companies, may apply for .fi names, and requirements for obligatory name servers configured to domain names will be abolished. Nonetheless, trademark protections will remain unchanged, so that those applying for a domain name must ensure that they are not violating protected or trademarked names.[1]
History
FICORA took over the administrative role of granting .fi domain names in 1997, though the registry itself was founded in 1986. Until 2002, the registry was operated by KPNQWest Finland, but took over when KPNQWest collapsed.[2]
An automated Domain Name Service was implemented in 2003, around the same time a new Domain Act liberalized .fi domain names so that they were available to companies for purchase.[2]
.fi launched IDNs in 2005, and in 2006, laws were changed so that .fi domain names became available for private persons.[2]
In 2014, the Finnish Parliament approved legislation known as the Information Society Code (previously the Code for Information Society and Communications Services). The legislation is intended to clarify the roles of FICORA and its registrars through the introduction of a registry-registrar model. Under the new operation model, acquisition and maintenance of domain names will be available through a "one-shop stop", where customers can acquire all services from one place.[1]
References