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Today begins the last stage of the domain register reorganisation. Old domains will become inactive but they can be re-activated via re-registration.

When the domain that has not been re-registered is removed from the zone, no one will be able to access the web pages and e-mail accounts connected with the domain name. “We will retain such domains with the accompanying data for two more months, during which period the no longer functioning domain can still be activated. To do this, get in touch with a registrar and submit your application. After that the procedure will take about one hour from the moment the Estonian Internet Foundation receives the application from the registrar,” explained Marek-Andres Kauts, Chairman of the Management Board of the Estonian Internet Foundation. “Only those domains are removed from the zone for which the registrars have not received re-registration applications during the last 7 months. The approximately 50,500 re-registered domains and new domains registered after the adoption of the new registration procedure will not be affected”, Kauts added.

We would like to stress that the materials on the web pages and e-mail accounts will not disappear as they are stored on the servers of the service providers. Domain removal from the zone suspends references to the relevant domain name servers, which means that the web pages are no longer accessible via the domain. 

If during the next two months (until 06.04.2011) we still receive no re-registration application, the corresponding domain name will become vacant and anyone will be able to register and use it on a first-come, first-served basis. 

As the domain register re-organisation period enters its final stretch, the four-part campaign conducted by the Estonian Internet Foundation to warn registrants about re-registration nears its end. Maarja Kirtsi, the Estonian Internet Foundation’s Adviser that has been in charge of the notification project, sums up the results: “The notification activities have been thorough and can be divided into four parts. Firstly, those registrants were notified whose contact information was derived from the databases of the registrars. Then we sent out over 250,000 e-mails to the addresses from the old domain register submitted to the Estonian Internet Foundation. Thirdly, as the register contained many registrants without e-mail addresses, we notified them by conventional mail. Lastly, we are currently engaged in the “Take care of your online home” media campaign conducted with the assistance of the European Regional Development Fund. I believe that the message has reached the target group.” 

If your domain has been rendered inactive and you wish to re-register it, start by checking the domain here www.internet.ee. You can then choose a registrar and submit your application to us via that registrar to have the domain re-registered. If you have questions then please take a look at the information pages on www.internet.ee or get in touch with an accredited registrar, the list of which is also available on our website.

The Estonian Internet Foundation is the organisation founded by the Government of the Republic of Estonia and the Estonian Association of Information Technology and Telecommunications with the purpose of management of Estonian top-level domain names (.ee). Domain rules and fees applicable to .ee, pri.ee, com.ee, fie.ee and med.ee are approved subject to consensus by the 6-member Council of the Estonian Internet Foundation. Half of the council members are appointed by the Estonian Association of Information Technology and Telecommunications and half – by the government.