No further opening of the French extension in 2005
In May 2004, the extremely restricted Dot FR was opened up for companies and trademark holders. A further step towards a more liberal extension, planned for early 2005, has now been cancelled.
Dot FR's restrictions are meant to keep foreigners out. Until May this year, registration of a Dot FR domain name required local presence and the domain had to be "justified" by appearing on the registrant's official documents or by a trademark.
Since May, the justification criteria has been lifted. Anyone who meets the basic local presence requirement can now register any domain name under Dot FR. So companies are no longer restricted to their trade or product names. Eligibility for Dot FR now grants a registrant the right to request a domain that he has nothing to do with.
This has unfortunately led to several cases of cybersquatting. In particular one Dot FR accredited registrar registered in excess of 4,500 names in potential violation of third parties' rights, including obvious typosquatting issues like wwwgoogle.fr or wwwyahoo.fr. Afnic, the French registry, reacted by blocking all the 4,500 plus names registered and the case is now the subject of ongoing litigation in the French courts.
Privacy issues
Until now, Dot FR has not been opened to individuals. Afnic planned to do so in the first quarter of 2005. But the problems encountered since May 2004 has convinced the registry's board that further preparation is required to try and prevent large scale rights infringement issues should the extension be opened to individuals.
Afnic's basic problem is one of identification. The registry relies on company registration numbers, trademark numbers and other official data to identify that a request for a Dot FR domain name comes from an eligible party. But although France's national databases provide precise data for companies and/or trademark holders, that is not the case for individuals. And even if Afnic could access such data, it might come under fire for attempting to use private data and therefore usurping an individual's right to privacy...
No new date for opening Dot FR to individuals has been set, but this is not expected to happen before 2006 at the earliest.
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