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December 3, 2005

Registration for .eu begins 12/7

Wired: Registration for ".eu" names begins on Dec. 7 at 10 a.m. GMT. For the first two months, only certain rights holders such as registered trademark owners, public bodies and companies can register. On Feb. 2, ".eu" opens up to family names. General registration begins April 7 on a first-come, first-served basis. The restricted periods were needed "to reduce considerably the risk of cyber-squatting" — the illicit use of domain names for fraudulent use. Such periods, known as sunrise, are typical these days as new domains get introduced.

The ".eu" domain name will be run by EURid, a private European nonprofit group. About 750 licensed resellers will accept registrations on EURid's behalf. Registrations are limited to people who live in the EU and to companies with headquarters or branches inside the 25-nation bloc. Prices are expected to range from euro80 to euro140 ($94 to $164) during the sunrise periods. They should drop to euro25 to euro30 ($29 to $35) once regular registration begins.

Cindy