Type: Non-Profit
Industry: Domain Names
Founded: 2003
Headquarters: Park Station Woluwelaan 150,
1831 Diegem
Country: Belgium
Website: eurid.eu
Key People
Marc Van Wesemael, General Manager

EURid (European Registry for Internet Domains) is a non-profit organization founded on April 8, 2003, by the three organizations operating the national registries for Belgium, Italy, and Sweden. After a call for expression of interest, the European Commission (EC) appointed EURid to manage and operate the .eu top-level domain (TLD) under the principles of common interest, quality, efficiency, dependability and accessibility for the member countries of the European Union.[1]

Background edit

In 2002 Regulation 733/2002 of the European Parliament and the Council on the implementation of the .eu TLD was published. Following the appointment of EURid as the .eu registry manager in 2003, the so-called Public Policy Rules were published by the European Commission in April 2004.

In March 2005, ICANN approved the delegation of the .eu in the DNS root zone.

On April 7, 2006, EURid officially opened general the registration for .eu on a first-come-first-served basis after a sunrise period. In the same year, the European Chapter of the Internet Society (ISOC) and the organizations operating the ccTLDs for the Czech Republic (CZ.NIC) and Slovenia (ARNES) joined EURid. The following year, the Business Europe Organization also decided to join EURid.

In December 2009, .eu introduced IDNs, and in June 2010, it implemented the Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC), a protocol adding security to the DNS by preventing the interception and redirection of web traffic to fake websites.[2]

The first Service Concession Contract between EURid and the European Commission expired in 2009 and was renewed until October 2014. In April 2014, EURid is confirmed as the .eu registry manager for the next 5 years following an EC call for expression of interest. According to the initial Regulation (733/2002), the European Commission is expected to produce a report on the .eu TLD to the European Parliament and the Council every two years. The latest one dates back to 2015.

Over the past decade, EURid became the first European TLD registry to achieve EU Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) registration (2012), received the CENTR award for its Co-Funded Marketing Programme and achieved its ISO27001 certification (2013) and in 2016 launched the .eu in the Cyrillic script (.ею). In addition, EURid became a leading player in the DNS industry with Memorandum of Understanding signed with UNESCO, ICANN, EUIPO and several other Internet governance organisations.

Member Organizations edit

The current member organizations are the following:

  • DNS Belgium, the registry manager of .be
  • ARNES, the registry manager of .si
  • CZ.NIC, the registry manager of .cz
  • Business Europe
  • ECTA
  • EMOTA
  • IAB Europe
  • UEAPME
  • Istituto di Informatica e Telematica (Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche), the registry manager of .it

Office Locations edit

EURid’s headquarters are located in Diegem, Belgium; this location also serves as the regional office for Western Europe. The organization has three other regional offices, which are located in Pisa, Italy; Prague, Czech Republic; and Stockholm, Sweden, and provide assistance to all registrars and customers using the respective regional languages.

Management edit

The European Commission is in charge of EURid, and ensures that the .eu registry is being managed and operated properly under the principles it was created with. The daily operations of EURid are supervised by an executive management team under the leadership of a Board of Directors.[3]

Management Team edit

Board of Directors edit

A strategic committee (with not more than 10 members) composed of a representative from each member of the organization advises EURid.

References edit