.be
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Introduced | 1988 |
|---|---|
| TLD type | Country code top-level domain |
| Status | Active |
| Registry | DNS Belgium |
| Sponsoring organization | DNS Belgium |
| Intended use | Entities connected with Belgium |
| Actual use | Very popular in Belgium |
| Registration restrictions | None |
| Structure | Names can be registered directly at second level; some third-level names under categories such as ac.be for academic institutions also exist |
| Documents | Documents |
| Dispute policies | ADR |
| Web site | DNS.be |
.be is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Belgium. The domain became active in 1989 and was administrated by Pierre Verbaeten of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. In 2000, the control of the TLD was transferred to DNS Belgium. As of late 2005, more than 480,000 domains were registered.
It was announced in November 2005 that the initial registration of domains would be free until the beginning of 2006, though with some limits on the number any individual was allowed to register. This was remarkably popular, with some 17,000 registrations coming in on the first day of the promotion.
Domain names are registered directly at second level. Third-level names under ac.be for academic institutions also exist, but is becoming obsolete as main universities like the KU Leuven and UGent abandoned it in 2005.
Any .be registration has to be ordered via a registered agent.
[edit] Regional domains
The far right party Vlaams Belang introduced a draft resolution in the Parliament of the region of Flanders demanding the creation of a Flemish top level domain .vl (for "Vlaanderen", Flanders in Dutch) but this resolution failed to receive support of the region's other parties. Furthermore, the regional government responded that the creation of top level domains was outside its competence.[citation needed]
