20.03.2003

FICORA opens a service automation system for domain names on 11 August 2003 - it is possible to apply for new domain names from 1 September

The Finnish Communications Regulatory Authority (FICORA) will introduce a service automation system through which Internet domain names can be applied for. The system will be opened on Monday, 11 August 2003, at 9 a.m., when it is possible to register into the system as a user. The advantage of the registration is that the user has the potential to apply for domain names immediately on 1 September 2003, when the new Act on Domain Names enters into force. The website of the service automation system is available at https://domain.ficora.fi/

At registration, the customer will immediately receive a user code and passwords will be posted later. A list of passwords will be sent to the customer as an E-letter, which will arrive within three business days from registration. Domain names cannot be applied for and contact information cannot be updated without user code or passwords.

Domain names granted prior to the new Act will remain valid for three years until 31 August 2006, after which they must be renewed. The Act does not otherwise have an effect on the rights of the old domain name holders.

Domain name applications that arrive to FICORA before the Act enters into force will be handled in accordance with the present regulation on domain names.

Further information:
Anna Huuskonen, Legal Counsel, tel. +358 9 6966 456,
Vesa Perttunen, Development Manager, tel. +358 9 6966 880 and
Tuula Vainionkulma-Paananen, Head of Domain Name Services, tel. +358 9 6966 491

The Act on Domain Names enters into force on 1 September 2003. Domain names in compliance with the new Act cannot be applied for or reserved prior to its entry into force. According to the Act, the applicant is basically free to choose the domain name. It is, however, forbidden to register personal names and, for example, domain names that violate somebody else’s trademark rights. Domain names can neither be registered nor stored for redistribution purposes. The one who has registered the domain name is responsible for its lawfulness. The information needed to ensure this is readily available at the public registers kept by the authorities and a link to these is available at FICORA’s domain name service. FICORA can suspend or revoke unlawfully registered domain names. A domain name is valid for three years at a time and it can be renewed as many times as the holder desires. FICORA will remind the domain name holder about the given deadline prior to its expiration. Private persons will not yet be granted the right to register domain names. Foreign corporations cannot either apply for domain names unless they have a subsidiary entered into the Finnish Trade Register.