Three Million Sign Up For Dot-EU
- February 5th, 2009
- Posted by EUEditor
The EU bid to create its own space, including cyberspace, was both practical and symbolic when it launched the “.eu” Internet domain name — and its says it’s a great success.
The tag ‘.eu’ has become the fourth most popular domain name among European countries and ranks number nine in the world according to EURid (the European Registry of Internet Domain Names)…
THREE MILLION ALREADY EXPRESSING “EUROPEAN CHARACTER”
The third millionth ‘.eu’ domain name was registered by a man in Germany this month (11.1.09), two-and-a-half years after its launch.
A report by Eurid says the total number of .eu names grew by 87,950 during the third quarter of 2008; an increase of 13% compared to the same time last year.
The EU Commissioner for Information Society and Media, Viviane Reding, said the expansion reflected great confidence among European users.
“Internet users are embracing the opportunity to express their European character online.
“In particular, I am glad to see that an increasing number of small and medium-sized companies have adopted .eu as an integral part of their corporate identity,” she said.
Backers of ‘.eu’ say it has established a European online identity that helps both citizens and businesses benefit from the single market, working through their websites and email addresses.
EUROPEAN UNION PROTECTION
EUrid, an independent not-for-profit organisation, says .eu is a “place in cyberspace in which their rights as consumers and individuals are protected by European rules, standards and courtsâ€.
EU countries with the highest number of .eu domain name registrations include Germany (916,255), the Netherlands (408,613), the United Kingdom (370,383), France (243,768) and Poland (174,214).
Reference:
Europe’s Information Society, ‘The .eu Top Level Domain – What is .eu?’ (20.01.09),
http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/policy/doteu/index_en.htm, (28.01.09).
EUrid – Your European Identity, ‘.eu registrations by country in numbers & graphics’, http://www.eurid.eu/en/about/facts-figures/statistics, (28.01.09).
Europa, ‘.eu domain passes the 3 million mark’ (14.01.09), http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/09/48&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en, (28.01.09).
Picture: www.intoscana.it