.ie
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Introduced | 1988 |
|---|---|
| TLD type | Country code top-level domain |
| Status | Active |
| Registry | IE Domain Registry |
| Sponsoring organization | University College Dublin |
| Intended use | Entities connected with the Republic of Ireland |
| Actual use | Very popular in Ireland, though some Irish people dislike tight restrictions and bureaucracy and go elsewhere for domains |
| Registration 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. |
| Documents | Registration policy |
| Dispute policies | IEDRP |
| Web site | 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 (and hence that part of the United Kingdom).
The .ie domain was managed by University College, 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 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 .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 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 irlgov.ie.
