.ie domain names - worth it?

The Guvnor

I am looking at a few .ie domain names.
Most are gone and used by people in completely unrelated fields - which surprises me but anyway.

Some generic ones flag this message:

Rights restricted by copyright;
http://www.domainregistry.ie/Copyright.php
% Do not remove this notice

% Not Registered - The domain you have requested is not a registered .ie domain name.
Now what does this mean in reality - can you make a case for why they should give it to you - would they let it go out for a commercial venture or should said generic names be used for 'educational' purposes only?

I see domains such as car.ie is registered which in generic terms must be as generic as one can get?

I also saw that if you are unhappy with someones use of a domain name you can go down the FIBO route and the IE DR will accept the ruling of fibo.

Just wondering if it is worth it to go and try and get a few generic names albeit in a category where we can at least argue our case.

mneylon

I don't understand what you are asking.

Are you asking if you think registering .ie domain names is a good idea? Or what?

If the domain is not registered then it is available to register. That's what the whois message says.

RoadKillTs

IE domains work on a first come first served basis. So in theory if someone has registered an IE domain then they have a right to it i.e; it's their name, or a business name they registered e.t.c.
So it's doubtful you will get the IEDR to change their minds.
It does happen though.

RoadKillTs

I don't understand what you are asking.

He's asking if someone has registered an IE domain can he contest it.
At least I think that's what he is saying.

The Guvnor

Sorry, typing out loud.

I understand registering .ie domain names can be useful.

What I am asking is if registering generic names is worthwhile?

I just thought that the IEDR was strict(ish) on certain domain names? Is everything acceptable to register?

For example: pharmacy.ie is registered to a pharmacy but could anyone have registered that domain name?

If they did register it, in theory a pharmacy or their society could instigate a fibo case to reclaim the domain?

The above are not the area I am looking at just examples.

mneylon

RoadKillTs wrote: »

He's asking if someone has registered an IE domain can he contest it.
At least I think that's what he is saying.

Oh - ok

WIPO is the only way to contest it and it would have to pass the "test". Supposed lack of use doesn't.

ScumLord

I thought the whole point of the Irish vetting process was simply to protect trademark names for companies. They won't stop you getting any name you like as long as it's not trademarked or copyrighted to someone already.

The Guvnor

Thanks guys.

I was not going to go down the FIBO route. There is one domain I like which is gone but used in a completely odd manner but I would prefer to ask them if it's for sale etcetera.

Next question then would be how much should a .ie domain name cost? Under €10 per year?

RoadKillTs

I'm open to correction here but I think letshost is the cheapest.
About 20 euro per year.

mneylon

The Guvnor wrote: »

Thanks guys.

I was not going to go down the FIBO route. There is one domain I like which is gone but used in a completely odd manner but I would prefer to ask them if it's for sale etcetera.

Next question then would be how much should a .ie domain name cost? Under €10 per year?

FIBO? Do you mean WIPO?

And you can't buy an existing .ie domain name from its current holder - the IEDR won't allow it

mneylon

ScumLord wrote: »

I thought the whole point of the Irish vetting process was simply to protect trademark names for companies. They won't stop you getting any name you like as long as it's not trademarked or copyrighted to someone already.

It's not the registry's role to check if a "string" is trademarked or not. Pretty much every word in the English language would be trademarked somewhere, so it would be totally unworkable ...

The IEDR vets registrations to ensure that they are in line with the registry's rules and procedures

Big Lar

blacknight wrote: »

And you can't buy an existing .ie domain name from its current holder - the IEDR won't allow it

That's a bit strict, is it not ? - What if I decided to sell my business ?

mneylon

Big Lar wrote: »

That's a bit strict, is it not ? - What if I decided to sell my business ?

If you sell the entire business then the domain would go with it ..

I don't invent the rules I just have to deal with them!

This *may* help with registering IE domains:

http://www.youtube.com/irishblacknight#play/all/uploads-all/1/qyjQNyr8P6w

ScumLord

blacknight wrote: »

It's not the registry's role to check if a "string" is trademarked or not. Pretty much every word in the English language would be trademarked somewhere, so it would be totally unworkable ...

The IEDR vets registrations to ensure that they are in line with the registry's rules and procedures

Ok, so for example. If Citroen was free I could buy up the name without stepping on any toes?

I'm sure when we signed up for our .ie domain we had to prove we had some entitlement to the name.

ectoraige

Big Lar wrote: »

That's a bit strict, is it not ? - What if I decided to sell my business ?

Then the domain remains property of that business. If you're registering a domain for a business, it's actually the business that is the domain holder.

Oh, and the IEDR retrospectively ditched the no-generic-domains rule about eight years ago, you still have to prove a claim to the name though.

mneylon

ScumLord wrote: »

Ok, so for example. If Citroen was free I could buy up the name without stepping on any toes?

I'm sure when we signed up for our .ie domain we had to prove we had some entitlement to the name.

If the domain name isn't the same or close to the business / company name you'd need to show proof of why you are entitled to it.

Unfortunately it's the subjective nature of that part of the process that causes the headaches.

MOH

ectoraige wrote: »

Then the domain remains property of that business. If you're registering a domain for a business, it's actually the business that is the domain holder.

Oh, and the IEDR retrospectively ditched the no-generic-domains rule about eight years ago, you still have to prove a claim to the name though.

Bit confused about this.
If I set up a web based sales business as a sole trader, I register the domain in my own name, and the website and the business are largely the same thing.

Surely the only way I could sell the business is by selling the website? There isn't anything else to sell (well, apart from current stock).

Does this mean according to the IEDR I couldn't actually sell the business?

fintan

blacknight wrote: »

And you can't buy an existing .ie domain name from its current holder - the IEDR won't allow it

Eh, yeah you can. The buyer needs to prove that are entitled to the domain, the same way the seller did when they bought it.

Either that or the couple of .ie's I've sold shouldn't have happened, if so, I said nothing

mneylon

fintan wrote: »

Eh, yeah you can. The buyer needs to prove that are entitled to the domain, the same way the seller did when they bought it.

Either that or the couple of .ie's I've sold shouldn't have happened, if so, I said nothing

You really don't want to open that Pandora's Box - believe me.

jmcc

Generic domains in ccTLDs do not generally follow the same traffic/value rules as generics in .com or .net. The main attraction of generic domains is type-in traffic. Users will type an url in their browser's address bar thinking that there should be such a website. With the larger ccTLDs (.co.uk and .de) this traffic can be significant. However with small to mid sized ccTLDs, the same level of type-in traffic does not happen.

The entitlement aspect of .ie domain registration has been covered earlier in the thread by Blacknight and others. As for .ie being worth it, it is. The Irish market is turning ccTLD positive and newer Irish websites targeting the Irish market are more likely to be using a .ie domain as their primary brand. This kind of shift towards the national ccTLD in a market is actually quite common as the market matures and the number of Irish hosted .ie domains is within a few thousand of the number of Irish hosted .com domains.

Regards...jmcc

The Guvnor

Cheers for all the info, very helpful!