The fee for a basic .eu Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) procedure will continue to be cut by 50% until the end of 2013, announced the .eu registry EURid and the Czech Arbitration Court (CAC), the institution appointed to rule on .eu domain name proceedings.

Since the introduction of the reduced fee in July 2012, the average number of ADR cases filed per month has risen by 80%.

“This increase does seem to indicate that there was some sort of financial barrier that prevented some parties from claiming their rights through .eu ADR proceedings,” commented Czech Arbitration Court Board Member, Petr Hostas.

“Lowering this barrier was a good step that enabled those parties to access the ADR procedure and I sincerely hope that this trend will continue going forward.”

EURid’s General Manager, Marc Van Wesemael, added, “At EURid, we want anyone with a legitimate prior rights claim to be able to challenge a .eu registration. Making the .eu ADR process more affordable, and therefore accessible, is one way of doing this.”

Why ADR

People can challenge a .eu registration if they believe they have a prior right to the domain name and the current holder has registered the name for speculative or abusive purposes. Although they can do this through a European court, EURid offers the fast and convenient .eu ADR procedure through the independent CAC. No travel is required as all cases are conducted online and by email, and in 21 official EU languages. Cases take an average of four months to resolve.

EURid appointed the CAC in 2005 as its ADR provider. In order to make .eu ADR decisions, the CAC selects one or more panellists from its list of 136 accredited international experts.

In numbers

For the first three quarters of 2012, 35 .eu dispute resolution cases were filed. The Czech Arbitration Court published 25 ADR decisions, of which all were in favour of the complainant.

More information about the new .eu ADR price structure is available at eu.adr.eu.

About .eu and EURid

The .eu domain ranks among the largest top-level domains in the world, connecting 500 million people in 27 EU countries to one Internet identity. More than 3.5 million .eu names have been registered since the domain opened for registration in 2005. Many companies and brands use a .eu website as a practical solution to convey a clear European identity and their business ambitions, including Fairtrade International, Foot Locker, Louis Vuitton, the MAN Group, Microsoft Corporation, Orangina and Toyota.

EURid is the not-for-profit organisation that operates the .eu top-level domain, following a tender process and appointment by the European Commission. EURid works with over 850 accredited registrars and provides support in the 23 official EU languages. EURid is registered by the EU Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS), which is an expression of EURid’s environmental commitment. With headquarters in Brussels (Belgium), EURid also has regional offices in Pisa (Italy), Prague (the Czech Republic) and Stockholm (Sweden). More information at: http://www.eurid.eu.

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