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Estonian Internet Foundation advises not to postpone domain re-registration until the last moment

According to the Estonian Internet Foundation data, as of today only 4,000 domain names have been re-registered of the almost 79,000 domain names that were registered in Estonia before 5 July this year and that will expire on 5 January 2011.

“Registration of new domain names in the new system has commenced quite briskly but re-registration of old domains has been more passive,” said Marek-Andres Kauts, Chairman of the Management Board of the Estonian Internet Foundation. “We want to remind all website owners that they should re-register their domains in good time and not postpone it until the last days of the transition period. Now indeed is the perfect time to re-register your domains.”

Kauts pointed out that the data of the domains registered prior to the domain reform, as early as 1992, contains a lot of outdated and imprecise information, which is why it makes sense to make sufficient time for the re-registration procedure. “For instance, there are many domains without one or both contact persons anymore or with the legal person marked as the registering entity already liquidated, but such domains are still used daily. As the old domain rules allowed registration of only one domain per legal person, a practice was widespread when a domain name was registered to a legal person that was in fact using it (because that person already had a domain), but to another legal person, for instance an apartment/garage/gardening association,” explained Kauts.

The domain re-registration application can be submitted by a person with the right of representation of the legal person in accordance with the articles of association or a person authorised by that person. This means that one will have to find the legal person marked as the registering entity, explain the situation to them, agree on domain re-registration details, ensure proper authorisation, formalise the necessary documents, etc. All this might need a lot of time. The domain names that are not re-registered by the early January deadline will be deleted and become available to anyone wishing to register them.

“You should not postpone your domain re-registration until Christmas and New Year because the working hours will be shorter and we expect queues at many registrars,” said Kauts.

He also remarked that there is no economic reason to delay with domain re-registration. The argument is that, if re-registration is postponed for a few months, the domain name will expire at a later point, so it may seem that such a delay is indeed a chance to save some money. In reality you can only save money by postponing your domain re-registration if you intend to abandon the domain. It becomes irrelevant if the domain is actively used with annual renewals,” concluded Kauts.

The Estonian Internet Foundation is the organisation that represents the Estonian Internet Community and manages domain names with the Estonian country code. The Estonian Internet Foundation performs the following tasks: management of Estonian top-level domain names and organisation of their registration, representation of the Estonian Internet Community in the cross-border Internet community, including the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), introduction of rules and fees applicable to domain names with the Estonian country code, keeping domain name information systems and registers and ensuring their availability, reliability and security.

The new domain registration procedure was launched on 5 July 2010 and it allows registration of second-level .ee domains by private persons, too. One person can register several domains and now foreigners can also register .ee domains. Registration services are provided by accredited registrars and their list is published on the Estonian Internet Foundation website. The 6-month transition period began on 5 July 2010 for all domains registered prior to that date, in accordance with the old rules. During this period the persons who registered the domains must choose a registrar with whom to renew the domain registration.