FAQ for NORID
Frequently Asked Questions
- Why should we apply for our own
domain name?
- Who can apply for a domain
name?
- What should we not apply for?
- What should we do before applying for
a domain name?
- How do we register a domain
name?
- Why must the application form be filled
out according to the guidelines?
- How much does it cost to register a domain
name?
- How do I proceed to register my
organization in the Br?nn?ysund register?
- How do we register a domain name under other
top-level domains?
- How do I get an IP-address?
- What is DNS?
- Why must we maintain registered
data?
- How do we handle changes?
- How much does it cost to make
changes in the registration?
- Where can I go to discuss
current name policy?
- I read about NORID
that...
- May I have a list of all domain names in
Norway ?
- What is the rules concerning the
downloading of data from the whois-database ?
- Why can't I have a domain name
with ????
1) Why should we apply for our
own domain name?
A domain name should uniquely identify an organization on the
Internet. A domain name identifies the organization as a whole and
will thus be a part of e-mail addresses for persons inside the
organization, URL's for the organization's web pages, etc.
2) Who can apply for a domain
name?
To quote the name policy:
3.1 The applicant must represent or be a part of an
organization that is registered as such within Norway, see 2.2. The
registration number (Br?nn?ysundregistrene) for the organization
must ordinarily be included with the application. Divisions under
an organisation can not register separate domain names.
3.2 The organization must have a physical presence and
an address in Norway or Svalbard.
This means the applicant must be an organization to get a
domain under .no. To identify the organization you are applying
for, we need the organization's registration number (from the
Br?nn?ysund registry). If the organization is not registered in
Br?nn?ysund, its existence should be documented (through copies of
by-laws e.g.). The organization needs to fullfill certain
requirements to be registered in Br?nn?ysund. More information
concerning these requirements can be found at http://oss.brreg.no/.
Additionally the organization needs to have an address in Norway
or Svalbard. If your organization only exists outside Norway, you
may not register a domain under .no.
Do not despair if you do not represent an organization. Private
persons may register domains under the category domain .priv.no. KPNQwest Norway AS administers the
.priv.no domain.
3) What should we not apply for?
You apply for a domain name for your organization. The domain name
should consist of the full name, partial name or a well-known
abbreviation of that organization.
NORID would like you to note since the prevailing name policy
was not set until fall 1995, there will be some registrations which
do not fulfill today's requirements. These registrations do not
give any argument for giving exceptions from current
regulations.
It is not necessary to have an own domain name in order to put
out information about an organization and its products. Search
machines on the World Wide Web look for titles and contents of
documents, not domain names. If one should only put out information
on the web, using catalog structure on the internet provider's own
web server can be easily done. It will look like this:
http://www..no//
As a general rule, one should not apply for registration
of brand names, products or trademarks which don't have anything to
do with the organization's own name. Exceptions can be made if the
organization is only known by a product
One should not apply for fine URLs for its web
servers. The domain name identifies organizations and nothing
else.
One should not apply for subdomains under a domain one
already has registered. In other words, if one has registered the
domain [domain].no one should not apply to NORID for registration
of [subdomain].[domain].no. After one has registered [domain].no,
one is free to set up any necessary subdomains. This does not
involve NORID in any way.
IP addresses are applied for from others, see point 10.
4) What should we do before
applying for a domain name?
One should think through and be sure that one really wants an own
domain name. It is important that one becomes familiar with the
name policy as well as read the guidelines for the application
forms carefully. Then one should think thoroughly over what domain
name is desirable. Before registering a domain name one must sign a
statement declaring
that the domain name does not infringe on other persons rights to
the name.
Since we do not have any reservation list, no domain name is
registered before it can actually be used. In other words,
everything must be in technical order on the applicant's end before
an application is processed. It is therefore necessary to get an
Internet provider before applying for a domain name.
NORID does not have the capacity or opportunity to give
an individual advice regarding configuration of name servers; this
is also the same regarding changes!
5) How do we register a domain
name?
All applications for a domain name under .no must be sent in by a
registrar. NORID's list of registrars is published at
http://www.norid.no/registrar/registrarliste_eng.html
6) Why must the application form be
filled out according to the guidelines?
The reason for the application having to be filled out exactly
according to the instructions is that NORID is increasingly using
automated processing of the application forms sent in. The large
number of applicants forces this. It is consequently in everyone's
interest that an application form is filled out correctly and
completely.
Applications which do not contain a correct application form, or
which is incorrectly filled or contains missing information, will
be rejected. Such applications will be returned to the
registrar.
7) How much does it cost to register a
domain name?
See price information for more
details about the cost of registering a domain name under .no.
Changing a domain name is not treated as a change but as a new
registration and will be billed as such.
Note that when you apply for a domain name via a registrar, it
is highly probable that they will ask for a higher payment than the
amount NORID bills the registrar. This is because the registrar
must do a lot of work in connection with registration for you, both
technical and administrative. Registrars are free to price as they
wish regarding procurement of and forwarding domain
applications.
8) How do I proceed to register my
organization in the Br?nn?ysund register?
To be registered in Br?nn?ysund the organization needs to
fullfill certain requirements. More information concerning these
requirements can be found at
http://oss.brreg.no/. NB! it is not neccessary to call your
organization name no to be allowed to register a domain name
under .no.
9) How do we register a domain name under
other top-level domains?
Look at NORID's list over registration
services around the world. Name policy and application forms vary
from top-level domain to top-level domain. NORID only processes
applications for registration under .no
10) How do I get an IP-address?
Today one has the following three alternatives for getting an
IP-address:
A) Use of RFC 1918
addresses
If several firms are going to communicate with this type of
address, they must naturally ensure they are coordinated
internally, such that they avoid address conflicts. One way of
reducing the probability of such address conflicts is to use a
randomized address distribution inside of RFC 1918 blocks, such
that not everyone starts on for example 192.168.1.1. This is a
relationship which does not concern those connected to the global
Internet.
B) Get IP-addresses through a service provider
Tjenesteleverand?rer vil kunne ha ulike betingelser for tildeling
Service providers will be able to allow various requirements for
distribution of IP addresses as long as they follow the rules from
RIPE. RIPE's rules in this area are specified in the RIPE Document
104.
C) Act as own local registration authority for IP
addresses
One can set up an own local registration authority, and get
allocated for further distribution of a block with IP addresses
from RIPE. This is dependent on willingness to cover the costs to
RIPE, and furthermore follow the rules regarding distribution. See
RIPE's own information. UNINETT
served as a so-called Last Resort Registry for distribution of IP
addresses in Norway until 01.01.96. In other words those who had
need for globally unique IP addresses but were not able to get such
through a service provider, received these addresses through
UNINETT. This arrangement is now discontinued. The main reason for
this is:
-
Those who get globally unique IP addresses in this way are not
willing to contribute to the costs of distribution. Both UNINETT
and RIPE have costs in connection with distribution of IP
addresses.
-
The need for globally unique IP addresses not be connected to
the global internet is no longer present in the same way as in the
past, because as of today there three large address-series
explicitly reserved for private internet:
10.0.0.0 - 10.255.255.255
172.16.0.0 - 172.31.255.255
192.168.0.0 - 192.168.255.255
This is in accordance with RFC 1918 - "Address
Allocation for Private Internets".
11) What is DNS?
DNS (Domain Name System) is the Internet service which connects
different names together with machine numbers from the Internet and
thereby makes it possible to send information to the right place on
the net. DNS functions purely as a distributed database spread over
many machines, so-called name server machines.
For problem-free use of all Internet services, it is important
that all machines in the local net which serve Internet users are
correctly registered in DNS. It is consequently necessary with an
organized operations cooperation between the responsible part for
local operations on the one end and the Internet provider on the
other.
The following protocol and standards apply:
If you have general questions regarding DNS, this book is
recommended:
"DNS and BIND - 2nd Edition" av Paul Albitz & Cricket
Liu, O'Reilly & Associates Inc, ISBN 1-56592-236-0, published
January 1997.
Also see the following news groups:
- comp.protocols.dns.bind
- comp.protocols.dns.ops
- comp.protocols.dns.std
- comp.protocols.tcp-ip.domains (this group has its own
FAQ which can be useful)
12) Why must we maintain registered
data?
All registrations of domain names are done in accordance with
current domain name policy. In order
for NORID to be able to ensure that the requirements set in the
name policy are lived up to, all given data in registering must be
maintained. This applies to both administrative data, such as the
name of the administrative contact person, and technical data, for
example name server information.
NORID is dependent on being able to reach the administrative
contact person when necessary. Such a need can for arise when
solving technical or administrative problems, or when conflicts
with regard to domain names arise.
It is the organization itself, through the administrative
contact person, which is responsible for keeping NORID's registered
information on its domain name up-to-date and correct.
13) How do we handle changes?
Look at the name policy chapter
10 for a closer description of the procedures for changing
previously registered information about a domain name.
Note that a change of the domain name itself is treated as a new
registration. Ordinary application forms are sent in, and the
applicants are billed for these.
Configuration of new name server(s) will be checked, and
changes will not be made before the configuration is
consistent/correct.
14) How much does it cost to
make changes in the registration?
NORID does not bill the registrar for processing changes. Note
that changing a domain name is not treated as a change but as a new
registration and will therefore be processed and billed as
such.
Please note that even if NORID does not bill the registrar for
processing changes, it is probably that the registrar will invoice
you for the work the registrar has to do in connection with a
change.
15) Where can I go to
discuss current name policy?
NORID has set up an open discussion list for those who wish to
discuss NORID's rules, work methods and practice, and possible
changes of these. The goal is to give a forum for an open and free
discussion around how domain name registration in Norway goes and
should go.
NORID will listen to comments which come on the list but will
not promise to participate in the discussion or put any special
consideration on whatever may come up.
Anyone can take part in the list; this is done by sending an
e-mail to
norid-diskusjon-request@uninett.no, with the word "subscribe"
in the body of the mail. Follow the instructions which are
returned.
16) I read about NORID
that...
Sometimes newspaper articles about NORID contains some factual
faults. NORID have made a
webpage that refer to the articles and contains the correct
information. This page is in Norwegian (as the articles so far is
in Norwegian).
17) May I have a list of all domain
names in Norway ?
NORID har some guidelines for how the information that is
collected through the domain name applications should be treated
and presented. This is reflected in the design of the
whois-database. Using this database one may check whether a
specific name has been registered, but we do not give out lists
over all domain names under .no, and do not allow people to
download our database.
Lists of all registered domains are a godsend for those who
wishes to map their competitor's domain name strategy, or wishes to
do bulk emailing (spam) and will therefore not be given out for the
.no domain.
18) What is the rules concerning the
downloading of data from the whois-database ?
The registered information for each domain name registered under
.no is made available on the Internet by registering the domain and
contact persons in NORID's whois database. The intention is that
this will function as an aid in solving problems related to the
domain, and as contact information.
The information is collected with the consent of the contact
persons explicitly for this use. The information is only made
available via the whois database. No listings of domain names etc.
will be given out.
All commercial uses of the registered information, including
targeted marketing, is not allowed.
Downloading whole or significant parts of the database
constitutes a violation of NORID's copyright rights and is not
allowed. Such downloading also violates the EU's database directive
and may conflict with Norwegian laws concerning privacy. This
applies independently of whether the information is stored in
another form than the original database, whether non-electronic
storage is used, and whether the information is forwarded
immediately. NORID will prosecute illegal downloading of the
database.
19) Why can't I have a domain
name with ????
Domain names where originally expected to restrict themselves to
the characters A-Z and a-z, the numbers (0-9) and the dash (-).
This is the assumption made when programming all software that uses
domain names (email programs, web browsers, name servers etc.).
There is no good technical solutions available on how to add extra
characters (like ???) to the domain name without causing different
kinds of major and minor failures. The technical problems are not
trivial as DNS needs to be working identically all over the world.
Ideally we want a solution that does not require a major update of
all name servers in the world, and that takes care of all the
applications that uses domain names as well. Unfortunately such
solutions doesn't just pop up, we're talking years, not weeks until
a proper solutin can be found and implemented.
IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) is currently working on
this. In addition a lot of different commercial companies has
produced a solution that works i limited areas (At the moment there
is about 13 different solutions which none of them works globally).
NORID feels that it is important that domain names under .no does
work all over the world, and that the domain name holders should be
able to trust that email will reach their adresses independent of
nationality or operating system of the sender. We will therefor not
implement ??? in norwegian domain names before a global method for
doing so has been found.
For more information of IETF, and the process of introducing
additional characters to domain names look at:
http://ietf.org/html.charters/idn-charter.html
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