Registry for the .gr Domain Names
| FORTH-ICS is
the Registry for the (Country - Code Top Level Domain
.gr). since the year 1989. In particular, the Department for the Administration of Domain Names (GR-Hostmaster) is responsible for the daily operations of the registry for the domain names ending in .gr, under the rules and regulations set out by the National Telecommunications &Post Commission, as stated in the 268/73 Decision of November 25th 2002 and the 351/76 Decision of April 15th 2005. |
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| DNS in Greece | ||||
At
the end of the 1980's, FORTH-ICS registered and set up the Domain
Name .gr, opening a new page for the Greek users of the Internet. The Domain Name System (DNS) is a technology developed to make the Internet more accessible and user friendly in order to approach the average user. Until then the connection between two computers obliged the users to memorize the numerical "addresses", known as the IP addresses. One can easily draw the conclusion that the expansion of the Internet use as a mean to exchange information required the creation of a "catalogue", approximately in the form of a telephone catalogue. This need was covered by the DNS system, where one numerical address (ex. 139.91.1.1) corresponds to a sequence of words or series of letters that are generally easier to be memorized by the user (www.eett.gr->193.201.166.11). DNS's success was consolidated by the appearance of the World Wide Web. The placement of content within the WebPages gave breath and dynamic to the expansion of the Internet as well as a commercial character. New services appeared whereas the memorization of the service's name by the user now became important. Trade names, commercial brands and new commercial ideas were advertised on the new medium using their distinct domain name, through which the user came into direct contact with their services. During the 1990's, and more so till the mid 1990's, the use of the Internet was limited to universities and scientific communities. The Institute of Computer Science kept up the database of domain names of .gr, which was numbered at a few thousand. The name entry was done at zero cost for anyone interested in using this new technology. There was a limitation of one name per taxed registration and the name entry was available to Greek legal persons and Greek citizens. In 1997, after an open dialogue, taking place under the shield of the National Telecommunications Commission (EET), with participants from the legal entities and individuals of the rising market of Internet services, the first EET regulation for the registration of domain names.gr was adopted. The Institute of Computer Science/ Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas (FORTH-ICS) was determined to be the administrator for the Greek area (.gr) by the EET. The Department of Internet Domain Names Administration of FORTH-ICS was established with the management of the registration and function of Domain Name System (DNS) of the domain .gr being its exclusive responsibility. This regulation was implemented by FORTH-ICS as it was determined on 1/1/1999 and it brought about important changes to the Greek name registration. A registration fee and a two-year duration was determined for the new entries. The users were given the right to an annual renewal of the names that they had in their use for as many years as they desired. The legal entities acquired the right to a ten-name registration per carrier, the Greek freelancers the right of two names and the Greek citizens one. The sub domains were created:.com.gr, .net.gr, .org.gr, .edu.gr and .gov.gr for name registrations. The 1999 regulation was revised by EETT and improved in November 1999, giving the right to legal entities and individuals outside of Greece to also register names while there was no limitation placed on the number of name registrations by all Greek users. Finally, with the law 2867/2000, the National Telecommunications and Post Commission (EETT) was now responsible for the registration of the names in .gr. With EETT's decision in November 2002 numbered 268/73, the criteria for the name registration was determined and remains valid until the 4th of July 2005. It determines that all Greek and foreign legal entities as well as individuals are allowed an unlimited amount of name registrations. This decision is replaced by the new rules set in the decision numbered 351/76 (April 4th 2005) which permits the registration of Domain Names in Greek characters (e.g. ???ľa.gr). As of July 2004, FORTH-ICS acts solely as the Registry of .gr with the responsibilities of keeping and updating the database of .gr and performing its DNS service, while the domain name registrations are completed by qualified legal entities, placed by EETT, named "Registrars". |
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| FORTH-ICS as a Registrar and Registry | ||||
From
the beginning of the creation of .gr and until 2004, FORTH-ICS
had two distinctive roles as Registrar and Registry. To accommodate
DNS's needs, name servers were deployed around the world, offering
DNS name services. Starting from the common use of the name servers
with other European Registries during the decade of the 1990's,
we were amongst the first registries in the area to diagnose the
need of exclusive machinery for this function and we created a
system which relies on nine name servers which are property or
of exclusive use of FORTH-ICS, strategically placed in Greece
as well as in Europe and America positioned in carefully picked
network points and connected with high speed connections. These
systems are capable of handling large demands of queries and entirely
cover today's needs as well as the future needs for the development
of .gr. For the safe function of the Registry, high availability computational systems with multiple security layers for the safe maintenance of the registry's data has been created in a safe location while at an alternative location, copies of the data are maintained in order to ensure the continuation of the Registry function in the case of a physical destruction and the creation of the zone file of .gr. The Registry - Registrars connection is encrypted and validated through the use of electronic signatures and certificates for all the computational systems and the users who have acquired access. Each new registration is registered online in the registry database and entered into the zone file within three hours of its entry into the registry database. The zone file of .gr is recreated every three hours from the data of the registry on a twenty-four hour basis. Respectively, the registrars are provided with support from the personnel of the registry 24 hours a day, 365 days a year in order to be able to respond to whichever situation may arise. |
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| International Activities of FORTH -ICS in the Domain Names Sector | ||||
FORTH-ICS
participates in meetings of international organizations, which
concern the name entries on a regular basis. It is a member of
CENTR ( Council of European National Top Level Domain Registries)
and actively participates in the ICANN meetings (Internet Corporation
for Assigned Names and Numbers), the non-profit corporation that
has the responsibility of managing the domain names worldwide
after a relative agreement with the Government of the United States
of America. FORTH-ICS has adopted positions and initialized procedures which in many cases are more advanced in relation to corresponding European Registries and especially concerning issues which have to do with the protection of personal data through Whois (a Registry's online application allowing a user to view data corresponding to registered domain names) but also on issues which have to do with the settling of disputes between users. FORTH-ICS has been involved as a defendant in a series of lawsuits among users in order to be able to apply the court orders that would otherwise require a definitive court verdict, thus accelerating the settling of the disputes. Also, FORTH-ICS, since the beginning of 2004, has created the infrastructure, based on the EPP protocol, for the registration of domain names with Greek characters (IDN-International Domain Names). These registrations will begin on July 4th, 2005 as set by the decision 351/76 (April 4th, 2005) by EETT In the framework of registration procedures of the previous regulation, FORTH-ICS instituted the synapse of contracts via fax for the acceleration of the procedures, the immediate temporary activation of the pending domain names and the possibility of changes made to the data of the names with the use of an electronic form and security code for each user and each name, in order for the users themselves to be able to manage their domain names. Respectively, FORTH-ICS suggested to EETT and materialized procedures whose goal was to reduce or get rid of the paperwork in the registrations and also proposed the adoption of new regulations that would make registrations easier for all users. During the time period 1999-2004, the registered domain names in the Registry increased from 10,000 to approximately 80,000 demonstrating in the best possible way the dynamics of the domain names in Greece. Thousands of requests have been answered and taken care of by the Registry's personnel, d ealing with registrations and name renewals but also concerning issues that have to do with the general public's education about topics of technical and legal importance as well as of a general interest on www.gr. Through FORTH-ICS's active participation in the international Domain name world, with constant effort and respect for the conditions the local Internet Community has placed, we have opened a pathway which is parallel and comparable to the course of our European colleagues, with the exclusive criteria to accommodate the demands and needs of the .gr users . |
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![Map of Greece with graph of [.gr] users 1998-2006](images/hellas-graph-2006.jpg)
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