'eu' domain registration to begin from 7 December
The first phase of registrations for the new Top Level web Domain (TLD) 'eu' will begin on 7 December 2005, EURid announced on 5 October. EURid is the independent organisation selected by the European Commission to operate the new registry for .eu. The date marks the start of a four-month 'sunrise' period, during which only the holders of existing trademarks or other prior rights, like public bodies, may register. For the general public, registrations for .eu will be fully open from the beginning of April 2006. These two separate phases are intended to avoid so-called cybersquatting, whereby organisations or individuals find that someone else has registered their trademark, company or personal name, in order to sell it back to them for a profit. EURid is organising a series of meetings around the EU addressed to anybody interested in .eu and its launching. The meetings will take place in Brussels (Belgium) on 10 October, Ljubljana (Slovenia) on 17 October, Pisa (Italy) on 21 October, Stockholm (Sweden) on 26 October, Prague (Czech Republic) on 8 November and Madrid (Spain) on 10 November 2005.