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you register a domain name, you must specify two name servers. These are
computers connected to the internet which at any time know where your
domain is located. If you are setting up a web site, then the name servers
usually belong to your service provider. However if you just want to reserve
your name, you must still arrange for your domain to be hosted on name
servers somewhere, often pointing to a "Reserved" page. This
is known as domain parking, and is a valuable free service offered by
Irish Domains Ltd. |
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For
a .ie domain ... From €69 for one
year to €279 for 5 years
For
a .com, .net,
.org, .biz
or .info domain ... From €9.50 for
one year to €95.00 for 10 years.
For
a .co.uk or .org.uk
domain ... €19 for two years.
This
gives you ...
Your
domain registered and parked.
Free
web reservation page at (e.g.) www.yourname.com
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Within the
EU, the above prices are subject to VAT at 21%
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Who
owns the domain name?
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The domain
is registered in your
name, or in the name of your company. In
addition, you are named as the administrative contact for the domain.
The administrative contact is the person who has authority in deciding
where the domain points, on which nameservers it resides etc. You can
override us on any technical or administrative issue connected with
that domain. Please note that domains cannot be owned as such, they
are merely registered according to the practices of the relevant national
or international authority.
Beware
of registration companies that do not register the domain in YOUR
name. If you are not listed as the owner and administrative contact,
you may have difficulty later if you need to transfer it to another
party.
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Who
can register a domain?
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International
(.com/.net/.org/.biz/.info/.co.uk)
There are no restrictions on who can register a name in these generic
top-level domains. The registrant may be a person or an organization
in any country.
European
(.eu)
There are no restrictions on who can register a .eu name provided you
are either an individual resident in an EU member state, or a company
headquartered within the EU.
Ireland
(.ie)
There are several restrictions on who can register a .ie domain. The
main overriding restriction is that the registrant must have a "real
and substantive" connection with Ireland. In practice, this means
that the person or organization must usually be able to prove residence
in Ireland. Further restrictions apply depending on who (or what) the
registrant is but in general it is normally only possible to register
one .ie domain.
For
full details on registering a .ie domain, please read the following
document...
IEDR Naming
and Registration Policy Guide
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What
restrictions are on the name ?
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General
All domain names must be less than 67 characters including the top-level
domain, must consist only of alphanumerics but may contain hyphens as
long as they don't occur at the start or end of the name. There is no
difference between capital and lowercase letters.
International
(.com/.net/.org)
There are no restrictions on these domains - if they're free, you can
register them.
Eurpoean
(.eu)
Most names of two or more characters can be registered provided they
are not on the list of already reserved names (these domains will not
appear as available on whois).
UK
(.co.uk/.org.uk)
The only restrictions on the generic .uk domains is that the domain
name must usually be three characters or more in length. Two character
names are permitted as long as one of the characters is a digit.
Ireland
(.ie)
The minimum length of the name is two characters. Two character names
are only permitted as long as one of the characters is a digit. There
are also important restrictions on the content of the name. Generally
the name must be obviously derived the full legal company name (you
can omit plc, ltd etc.), or business name. Abbreviations are sometimes
allowed with proof of use. Trademarks must be exactly the same as that
registered. Your personal name itself can be registered easily (you
will have to supply a utility bill or similar).
For
full details on naming a .ie domain, please
read the following documents...
IE
Naming and Registration Policy
IE Dispute
Resolution Policy
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What
about top-level registry fees ?
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When you
register and park your domain with us, we pay any applicable top-level
registry fees to the relevant authority. Because of the number of registrations
handled by Irish Domains, we get significant discounts on the registration
fees, which we pass on to our clients. For example, if you were to register
your domain directly with the IE Domain Registry, you would be charged
€69/yr for registration only. Our charge can be as low as €53.80/yr
for registration plus domain parking plus
reservation page. Our fee for a .com and similar is only €9.50/yr
for 1-10 years.
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Holding
a registered trademark does not prevent somebody else registering a
domain of the same name, but it will help greatly if a conflict ever
arises. A .com/.biz/.info/.co.uk domain may be registered by anybody
anywhere in the world irrespective of trademark rights. Even if it is
registered in a country where your trademark applies, you may have to
resort to a dispute resolution process or an expensive legal proceeding
to recover it. Trademarks are also registered under a variety of headings
and in different jurisdictions, so multiple persons or companies may
have legitimate rights to register the same name.
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*This
is just our take on the subject. Consult a qualified trademark/patent
agent for the full story.
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What
if my name is already gone ?
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almost certainly means that someone has got there first. You could try
to register the name in a different top-level domain, or try a slight
variation on the name. If you really want the name, you could also negotiate
directly with the holder and perhaps buy it off them. If you believe that
you have special rights to the name, you could also try legal action to
try and recover it, however this is an expensive and risky undertaking.
Unfortunately, Irish Domains Ltd cannot help you in any of these situations,
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What
if I want to move my domain ?
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If you
simply want to point your domain at another hosting company, all you
need to do is send us the nameserver information of your new hosting
company and we will update it with the top-level registry. We will continue
to bill you for your domain registration fee when it becomes due for
renewal, your new hosting company will bill you seperately for their
services.
If you
want to completely move the domain to a new registrar/provider, the
exact procedure will depend on what type of domain is being registered.
For .ie domains, you just need to contact
your new hosting provider and they can usually arrange everything. For
.co.uk domains, the procedure is similiar
but Nominet require us to explicitly release the domain - we will do
this promptly upon receipt of a letter of authorisation from the domain
owner. For .com, .net,
.org, .biz
and .info domains, you will need to select
a new registrar and follow their particular procedure for domain transfer
- we will need a letter of authorization to unlock the domain and release
the transfer code. Please note that it is not possible for us to refund
the unused portion of a domain registration.
Due to
the way domain changes propagate around the internet, it may take several
days for all intermediate nameservers to update. During this time, people
accessing your site may see either the new or the old site, so we recommend
that if possible, you temporarily run both sites in parallel during
the transition.
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What
if I require additional services ?
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will be happy to provide any additional services if at all possible. We
can provide quite a range of domain registration, web hosting services
and eCommerce ourselves, please refer to our services
and pricing page. If you require a service which we cannot provide,
then we will be glad to point you in the direction of somebody who can
(even a competitor) and let you talk to them directly, just email us at
sales@irishdomains.com with
your questions. |
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Where
can I find more information ?
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The
following
links contain further information on domain registration...
- IEDR
- Irelands domain name registration authority
- Nominet
- UK domain name registration authority
- EURid
- .eu domain name registration authority
- ICANN
- International domain name registration authority
- CENTR
- Council of European National TLD registries
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