.ie

Infobox Top level domain
name=.ie
background=#CCF


introduced=27 January,1988 [ [http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/ie.html IANA - .ie] ]
type=Country code top-level domain
status=Active
registry=IE Domain Registry
sponsor=University College Dublin
intendeduse=Entities connected with the flag|Ireland
restrictions=Must have "real and substantive" connection with Ireland (any of the 32 counties, including those in Northern Ireland), or have a European Union trademark; applicant must prove connection to desired name; personal domains of individuals limited to initials and a number
structure=Registrations are done directly at the second level.
document= [http://www.domainregistry.ie/RegistrationPolicy.php Registration policy]
disputepolicy= [http://www.domainregistry.ie/DisputeRes.php IEDRP]
website= [http://www.domainregistry.ie domainregistry.ie]

.ie is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for the Republic of Ireland. However, the registration criteria open the domain to registrants located in, or with a significant connection to, the island of Ireland, including Northern Ireland.

The .ie domain was managed by University College, Dublin, Dublin, since its delegation from Jon Postel in 1989, until the creation of IE Domain Registry (IEDR) in 2000; the university is still the IANA Sponsoring Organization. The IEDR is considered more conservative than other similar authorities and places certain restrictions on registration. For example it has a policy against personal names. This is due to .ie ccTLD being a primarily business orientated ccTLD for Irish businesses and businesses doing business in or with Ireland.

Registration policies have been liberalised somewhat in recent years and rules such as the one against registering generic domain names have been dropped. Applicants for .ie domain names still have to provide proof of entitlement to the domain that they want to register.

The .ie ccTLD is operated on a managed registry basis by IEDR. As a result, some town and village websites (such as [http://www.killavullen.com Killavullen] ) have opted for a .com domain instead. These websites are often voluntarily run by residents. Most of the town, city and county councils have registered their .ie domain. The .ie ccTLD has strong restrictions on the registration of geographic names and will generally permit only the town, city or county council to register such names.

The retail cost of a .ie domain can be anywhere from €30 to €100, a great deal more than a domain in a TLD such as .com or .net. This traditionally high price has ensured that .ie has grown more slowly than the number of Irish registered .com/.net/.org/.biz/.info domains. However IEDR has been reducing the wholesale (trade) price of .ie over the last few years and the number of registered .ie domains has been growing accordingly.

The normal way of registering a .ie domain is via a [http://www.domainregistry.ie/ListResellers.php .ie Reseller] though it is possible to register a domain directly through IEDR. A direct registration is typically more expensive.

There is no official second level domain policy yet. However some obvious second level domains such as edu.ie and gov.ie exist. There has been discussion in the Irish internet community over the years about introducing second level domains though little has been done.

The Irish Government uses subdomains of the [http://www.gov.ie gov.ie] domain for many of its websites but each government department now has its own .ie domain. The main Irish Government portal website is at [http://www.irlgov.ie irlgov.ie] .

A number of domain names, typically those of other TLDs, two letter domains and potentially offensive domains (such as porn.ie) are forbidden from being registered. However two character domains consisting of one letter and one number are permitted. The only exception to the two letter rule is the ul.ie domain which was registered by the University of Limerick before the rule came into effect. The domains in the "forbidden" category will return a record for a WHOIS query but they are not in the .ie zone.

In April 2008 the number of registered .ie domains exceeded 100,000. Part of that growth was due to the introduction of Personal Domain Names in October 2007. A Personal Domain Name allowed an individual to register their own name or a variant of it with a utilities bill or passport as proof of entitlement. The .ie extension is growing in popularity in Ireland. While it has not yet surpassed the number of Irish owned .com domain names it is the preferred extension for new Irish businesses. Approximately 130 new .ie domains are registered each working day.

ee also

* HEAnet
* INEX
* ITnet

References

External links

* [http://www.domainregistry.ie/ IE Domain Registry]
* [http://www.iedr.ie/ListResellers.php IE Domain Registered resellers]
* [http://www.iedr.ie/DomainCount.php IE Domain Registration Statistics]
* [http://www.pdn.ie/ IE Personal Domain Names]