News and Articles about International Domain Registration
The .FI Domain Registry issued in February a record number of 4,130 new .fi domain names. The number is 11% more than in February 2008 and over 30% more than in February 2007.
Reason for the strong demand for .fi domain names, according to the Registry, is the general growth in the sector and, especially, the one year period of validity which was introduced at the beginning of the year. In February, 38% of the new .fi domain names were registered for one year.
Private person: A domain name can be applied for a person of at least 15 years of age who has a Finnish Personal Identity Number and is domiciled in Finland. The guardian of a child over 15 but under 18 years of age or of an adult to whom a guardian has been assigned may apply for a domain name on their behalf. The guardian may, for example, be a guardian assigned by a court or some other authority, or the father or mother of a minor.
Company/community: A company or a private entrepreneur entered in the Finnish Trade Register, the Finnish Register of Associations or the Finnish Register of Foundations, a Finnish public corporation, state owned company, independent public service, public association or the embassy of a foreign state may apply for a domain name. Domain names may be applied for only after the Trade, Association or Foundation registration has been finalized. It is not sufficient to have a pending registration. An applicant who has only a Business ID or is entered only in the tax administration register is not entitled to a domain name.
Public corporations include, for example, the state, municipalities, the province of Aland, municipal federations, the Helsinki Metropolitan Area Council, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland and the Orthodox Church of Finland including their parishes. Statutory communities with public duties may also be included. If the applicant corresponds to one of the above definitions of public corporations but does not have a business identity code (e.g. registered religious communities).
A .fi domain name can consist of 2 63 characters. The allowed characters are letters from a to z, numbers from 0 to 9 and the dash ( ). Additionally, the native language characters used in Finland are acceptable. The domain name cannot begin or end in a dash. The third and fourth character of the domain name cannot both be dashes. However, the third and fourth character of the ACE form (ASCII Compatible Encoding) of a domain name can both be dashes.
According to the Act on Domain Names, the applicant is responsible for ensuring that the domain name is not based on the registered name or trademark of another party. The Act refers to names entered into the Finnish Trade Register, the Finnish Register of Associations, the Finnish Register of Foundations and the party register, and trademarks entered in the Finnish Trademark Register or in the Trademark Register of the European Union. The names of public corporations, state owned companies, independent public services, public associations, embassies of foreign states, and their institutions, as well as established names referred to in the Act on Business Names and the Act on Trademarks, are protected.
According to the Act on Domain Names, the applicant is also responsible for ensuring that the domain name is not based on the name of a natural person. It should be made sure by searching through the population information system maintained by the Population Register Centre that the intended domain name does not consist of a nickname or the applicant’s surname that is a combination of another person’s first name and surname.
A company or community may apply for a domain name comprising the first and last names of a person (e.g., johnsmith.fi or smithjohn.fi) only if the applicant has registered the name in the trade, trademark or party register, or the registers of associations or foundations. The domain name and the registered name must precisely match. The only permitted exception is leaving out a non identifying part of the name (e.g. the company form identifier Oy). Thus, John Smith Oy may apply for the domain name johnsmith.fi, but Haulier John Smith Oy may not. You will need to provide the registration number of the name in the application form. The Registry will verify the information provided during the application of a domain name.
A private person may apply for a domain name comprising a combination of a first and a last name only if that is his or her own name.
The domain name may not contain offensive terms or incitements to commit an offence, and domain names may not be applied for with the purpose of reserving them for resale.
According to the Act on Domain Names, the applicant is responsible for ensuring that the domain name is not wrongfully based on the registered name or trademark of another party. The Act refers to names entered into the Finnish Trade Register, the Finnish Register of Associations, the Finnish Register of Foundations and the party register, and trademarks entered in the Finnish Trademark Register or in the Trademark Register of the European Union. The names of public corporations, state owned companies, independent public services, public associations, embassies of foreign states, and their institutions, as well as established names referred to in the Act on Business Names and the Act on Trademarks, are protected.
The Registry can revoke a domain name at the request of the owner of a protected name or trademark, if the domain name exactly matches the protected name or trademark (Company Oy and company.fi). Any dashes ( ) or company form identifiers of a protected name or trademark are not considered when the protected name’s or trademark’s similarity to the domain name is compared. A domain name can be considered to exactly match another’s name or trademark even if the protected name’s or trademark’s national characters å, ä and ö are replaced by a and o in the domain name. A domain name can also be revoked if it is a derivative of a registered name or trademark (e.g. parlament.fi or, derived from the registered trademark Telus, telusproduct.fi and realbadfoodtelus.fi). The revocation requires that the applicant or holder of the domain name intends to harm the holder of the name or trademark, or obtain unlawful benefit from another’s name or trademark.
As of 1 September 2005, it became possible to apply for Internationalized Domain Names (IDN), i.e. Finnish (.fi) domain names represented by the native language characters å, ä and ö.
Internet name server systems can only process the traditional letters (a to z) of the Latin alphabet. Therefore, native language characters should be converted into a form which can be processed by name server systems.
Punycode enables the use of characters other than the Latin alphabets in domain names. Punycode is also known as ACE (ASCII Compatible Encoding). The ACE form is a “technical form” of a domain name, understood by name server systems and defined in the name servers.
The holder of a domain name can authorize a representative to act on his or her behalf in all matters relating to domain name applications and changes to an existing domain name. Make an agreement or representation directly with the representative of your choice (e.g. a lawyer’s office). Once the information about the representative has been supplied, the Registry will send all communication concerning the domain name to the representative, not the holder.
The representative must register with the .fi domain name system on behalf of the holder and enter his or her contact information under “Representative’s data”. In this way, the representative will be able to use the holder’s user ID and passwords.
If no name servers have been configured to serve the domain name, it will not be possible to find the domain name on the Internet or receive e mail.
You will need to provide information about name servers in the application form. If no name servers have been configured to serve your new domain name, you should contact an Internet service provider of your choice. The Internet service provider can also forward the application for a domain name on your behalf.
The domain name service will automatically check that the name servers specified in the application function properly. All name servers that have been configured to serve the domain name must be indicated in the application. Each name server must be functioning. If one or several name servers do not pass the name server test and are not repaired within the deadline (1 month), the application for a domain name will expire and the applicant will lose the domain name. The fee will not be returned.
A minimum of two and a maximum of ten separate, functioning name servers must be configured to serve the domain name. The geographical location of the name servers is not relevant, but they must respond to name service queries on the Internet. All the name servers specified in an application for a domain name must meet the requirements of the Regulation of the Finnish Communications Regulatory Authority.
According to the Act on Domain Names, the Registry can revoke a .fi domain name, if:
The revoked domain name will become available for re application after three months. Should a violation of a name or trademark occur, however, the domain name can be transferred to the rightful holder, who demanded the name to be revoked, immediately following revocation.
The Registry can revoke a domain name at the request of the owner of a protected name or trademark, if the domain name exactly matches the protected name or trademark (Company Oy and company.fi). Any dashes ( ) or company form identifiers of a protected name or trademark are not considered when the protected name’s or trademark’s similarity to the domain name is compared. A domain name can be considered to exactly match another’s name or trademark even if the protected name’s or trademark’s national characters are replaced for example by a and o in the domain name. A domain name can also be revoked if it is a derivative of a registered name or trademark (e.g. parlament.fi or, derived from the registered trademark Telus, telusproduct.fi and realbadfoodtelus.fi). The revocation requires that the applicant or holder of the domain name intends to harm the holder of the name or trademark, or obtain unlawful benefit from another’s name or trademark.
