ie domain registrations

iasrod

A bit confused by the iedr criteria for issuing domain names wonder if anyone can help

I have a client who is a sole trader with a registered business name of lets say Smith Widget Sales and Services.

Can they register smith.ie on the basis that smith is an abbreviation of their registered business name?

Checking on iedr there seem to be several registrations that have used this criteria for example murphy.ie does anyone know if this will pass iedr scrutiny?

Thanks

jmcc

Originally posted by iasrod
I have a client who is a sole trader with a registered business name of lets say Smith Widget Sales and Services.

Can they register smith.ie on the basis that smith is an abbreviation of their registered business name?

Checking on iedr there seem to be several registrations that have used this criteria for example murphy.ie does anyone know if this will pass iedr scrutiny?

It is a difficult call because smith.ie could be construed as a personal name. The simplest advice would be to see if IEDR will accept it though they may just abbreviate it to smithswidgets.ie. It is very much a phase of the moon operation so it can sometimes depend on the IEDR individual who handles the application. It would of course be of benefit to have the exact .ie domain registered as a business name.

Regards...jmcc

mneylon

Hi

Ignore jmcc - he enjoys IEDR bashing at every opportunity.

To answer your query - yes you can.

If the RBN is Smith Technical Widgets you can register:
smith.ie
technical.ie
widgets.ie

or stw.ie

or any variation like that.

iasrod

Thanks for the replies guys, sounds like it should be ok then.

Interesting one as I guess if you wanted to register a number of speculative domains you could set up a RBN of "coffee tea soccer cars gardens shopping" etc and then go register the lot.

Probably a silly idea but you could do it if the rules work as BK states:)

On bashing IEDR forget the rules on naming my biggest beef would be the totally silly prices they charge which makes .ie domains the most expensive in the world afaik. I sit down with most of my clients (SMEs) and show them the pricing for .ie and .com 95% of them say .com.

jmcc

Originally posted by blacknight
Ignore jmcc - he enjoys IEDR bashing at every opportunity.

And bashing IEDR with good reason. I've seen IEDR's policies in action and have been monitoring .ie since before the current IEDR management.

To answer your query - yes you can.

More a maybe than can. Since smith.ie would be a rather extreme abbreviation, IEDR could object. There is no harm in trying but it would strengthen the case if the RBN smith.ie was registered by your client.

In terms of branding, it would be better for your client to have a distinct domain name rather than a generic one.

Regards...jmcc

jmcc

Originally posted by iasrod
Interesting one as I guess if you wanted to register a number of speculative domains you could set up a RBN of "coffee tea soccer cars gardens shopping" etc and then go register the lot.

That is exactly how it is done and a lot of generic .ie domains exist. Most of them are never used though.

On bashing IEDR forget the rules on naming my biggest beef would be the totally silly prices they charge which makes .ie domains the most expensive in the world afaik. I sit down with most of my clients (SMEs) and show them the pricing for .ie and .com 95% of them say .com.

Yeah it can be hard to explain the difference. Most clients would just opt for the .com and damn the .ie. However some clients, with a predominantly Irish market may perfer the .ie domain.

The price on .ie is a complete ripoff. With the new .eu domain becoming available next year, IEDR will be under even more pressure. Hopefully the Minister will recommend a price decrease as IEDR's stranglehold on .ie was broken when the Minister assigned the administration of .ie to ComReg. IEDR only handle the technical administration of the .ie now. Even that may be put out to tender within the next year.

Regards...jmcc

mneylon

Originally posted by iasrod

On bashing IEDR forget the rules on naming my biggest beef would be the totally silly prices they charge which makes .ie domains the most expensive in the world afaik. I sit down with most of my clients (SMEs) and show them the pricing for .ie and .com 95% of them say .com.

Two things:
1. Price: IEDR does not like selling directly to the public, so you should go through a reseller where the pricing will be a lot lower.
Currently you can get IE domain from approx €50 upwards, depending on who you deal with.

2. Facts: IE is not the most expensive ccTLD, nor is the pricing that crazy when compared with a lot of other small ccTLDs. I'm not saying it is cheap, but the "IEs are the most expensive" argument is factually incorrect.

3. Rules: IE rules are restrictive compared to .COM, but they are not "insane" compared to a lot of ccTLDs. Try registering a .es or .fr

iasrod

BK

I was aware of the domains being cheaper through resellers. Still expensive IMHO.

I did put AFAIK on my most expensive comment so thanks for the clarification. Generally I deal with .co.uk and .com so the .ie prices look damned expensive.

I do belive that if the .ie domains were more affordable then there would be a much bigger take up. Given the size in both population and economy of this country .ie should be a strong force and a recognised brand. I seem to recall a post saying that the number of .ies registered was tiny.... 40,000? or am I going mad?

I don't have a problem with some restrictions on domain registration but from what I have read this seems to have been draconian in the past although it seems to have been relaxed some in more recent times.

No need or wish to register an es or fr and I can well believe they are worse

Cheers for the help folks

jmcc

Originally posted by iasrod
I seem to recall a post saying that the number of .ies registered was tiny.... 40,000? or am I going mad?

From http://whoisireland.com :

Number of .ie Domains Tracked: 38972
Active Domains: 37143
Dead (No SOA) Domains: 1829

Figures current as of 16/06/2004

Regards...jmcc