Domain name regulation
The Internet Domain Name Regulation—in the making since 1993—was finally accepted and published in the Official Gazette on November 7, 2010. The regulation had been expected and needed for a long time, since there was no legal arrangement for assigning and registering domain names or resolving domain name disputes.
The Internet Domain Name Regulation regulates the procedures and principles of domain name registration with a .tr extension. Under this arrangement, the authorisation of country code top level domain name (ccTLD) registration will be transferred from the Middle East Technical University (METU) to .tr Network Information System, called TRABIS, which will be established within three years.
One of the significant changes brought by the regulation is the ‘first-come, firstserved’ system of assigning domain names. Until now, domain names were assigned on a document-required basis in order to lessen disputes. With this new regulation, ccTLDs (such as com.tr, gen.tr, info.tr, biz.tr) will be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis without any documentation required.
Additionally, the Information Technology and Communication Institute will start assigning .tr domain names without ‘.com’, as in domain.tr. But the first assignments will be on a document-based system.
The new regulation also changes the sale and assignment of domain names. Until now, the sale, rental or assignment of ccTLD domain names was not possible unless the basis right (on which the application is based) was not assigned to the assignee. With the new regulation, the registrants can sell or assign their domain names and can record this change of ownership with TRABIS. In addition, when the registrant dies, the rights of the domain name will be passed down to the heirs.
“The Internet Domain Name Regulation— in the making since 1993—was finally accepted and published in the Official Gazette on November 7, 2010.”
The regulation also contains a dispute resolution mechanism. Before the regulation, there weren’t any legal arrangements regarding domain names. For this reason, ‘Nic.Tr’ under the aegis of METU, examined complaints (filed by the rights holders concerned) according to its own policies, without any judicial review. The regulation provides a new dispute resolution mechanism in which disputes will be settled by independent dispute resolution service providers.
In the case of a domain name dispute, the rights holders concerned can apply to any dispute resolution service provider they wish and request the settlement of the dispute. The rights holder can apply to dispute resolution service provider if the following requirements are met:
