Huw Jones
BRUSSELS: Companies claiming to offer Europeans the chance to register in advance for a new .eu Internet address may not be able to deliver on their word, the European Commission said.
The new address, or domain name, will offer European companies and individuals an alternative to the .com suffix or having to maintain a series of national addresses in Europe such as .fr for France or .de for Germany.
The European Union's executive said the new pan-European domain name will go live from the start of 2006. The national domain names in Europe will continue alongside .eu.
But some companies are already offering and charging individuals to register for a .eu Internet address in advance.
Martin Selmayr, the Commission's spokesman for information society and media, said European citizens should be wary of such services.
"We are warning EU citizens to check carefully ... It can't be a completely serious offer," Selmayr said, adding that only public bodies and companies with a trademark can register in advance, during a so-called sunrise period lasting four months.
"A commercial operation cannot register you today and cannot register you better than you can do yourself. You can register at the start of 2006," Selmayr said.
Hans Peter Oswald, director of domainregistry.de, a company that helps companies and individuals register Internet names, said consumers should not be paying in advance for registration. "The main concern is people asking for a pre-registration fee," Oswald said, adding that people should pay only after they can see their .eu name is live.
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