The .eu domain management agency (EURid) has recently decided to lock 74,000 .eu domain names due to suspicions of speculative purchases for resale at inflated prices.
EURid has also revealed the names of three companies acting as fronts for these trading groups: Ovidio Ltd, Fausto Ltd, and Gabino Ltd.
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| Source: hullabaloo |
The .eu domain was initially restricted to individuals with exclusive brand ownership and authorized companies for registration. As of February this year, even companies without registered trademarks were allowed to purchase these domains. As a result, over 300,000 .eu domains were sold within just two months. By April, .eu became a domain accessible to any citizen.
Despite having declared a ban on speculative activities from the outset, it has become common for individuals to purchase domain names in advance and then sell them to companies at exorbitant prices. EURid has not hesitated to lock many domains when the owners could not prove their association with the European community.
EURid stated that such abuse of the system could decrease the number of .eu domains and harm the two million legitimate domain owners, while affirming that the mass locking of these domains would not affect legal owners. However, the agency has not yet released a list of the locked domains.
A court hearing is also scheduled for October in Brussels to make a final decision regarding those accused of speculation by EURid.
HOÀNG MINH
