.be

Infobox Top level domain
name=.be
background=#CCF


introduced=1988
type=Country code top-level domain
status=Active
registry=DNS Belgium
sponsor=DNS Belgium
intendeduse=Entities connected with flag|Belgium
actualuse=Very popular in Belgium
restrictions=None
structure=Names can be registered directly at second level; some third-level names under categories such as "ac.be" for academic institutions also exist
document= [http://www.dns.be/en/home.php?n=121 Documents]
disputepolicy= [http://www.dns.be/en/home.php?n=54 ADR]
website= [http://www.dns.be/ DNS.be] |

.be is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Belgium. The domain became active in 1989 and was administrated by Pierre Verbaeten of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. In 2000, the control of the TLD was transferred to DNS Belgium. As of late 2005, more than 470,000 domains were registered. [cite web
url=http://web.archive.org/web/20051225043004/dns.be/en/home.php
title=DNS Belgium - Newsflash (Archived)
accessdate=2007-06-20
year=2006
month=december
publisher=dns.be, archived by the Internet Archive]

It was announced in November 2005 that the initial registration of domains would be free until the beginning of 2006, though with some limits on the number any individual was allowed to register. This was remarkably popular, with some 17,000 registrations coming in on the first day of the promotion.

Domain names are registered directly at second level. Some of Belgian's main academic institutions, such as the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and the Université Libre de Bruxelles, use third-level names under ac.be, but others have abandoned its use (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Universiteit Gent and Université Catholique de Louvain.

Any .be registration has to be ordered via a registered agent.

Regional domains

The far right party Vlaams Belang introduced a draft resolution in the Parliament of the region of Flanders demanding the creation of a Flemish top level domain .vl (for "Vlaanderen", Flanders in Dutch) but this resolution failed to receive support of the region's other parties.

References

External links

* [http://www.iana.org/root-whois/be.htm IANA .be whois information]
* [http://www.dns.be/en/home.php?n=81&l=a List of .be registered agents]