Moving the goal posts: new rules for domain names

01-08-2012

Xiang Gao

CNNIC, authorised by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China, acts as China’s domain name registry, overseeing the .cn country code top-level domain and Chinese Domain Name system.

CNNIC (Internet Network Information Center of China) recently revised the CNNIC Implementing Rules of Domain Name Registration. The changes are mainly to qualification requirements for applicants, verification of registration information, privacy protection of registrants’ information, registrar management and so on.

Upon approval from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China (MIIT), the revised Implementing Rules came into force from on May 29, 2012, replacing the previous rules (in place since 2009). Any application for registration of a .cn domain name, and Chinese domain names such as ....., ..... or ..... under control of CNNIC, or any domain name registration services must comply with the revised rules.

The enlarged scope of eligible applicants is the most significant change that foreigners should consider. Under the new rules, “any individual or organisation that can bear independently civil liabilities, has the right to apply for the domain registration”.


domain names, CNNIC, MIIT

WIPR