The upcoming launch of .eu will attract more and more media attention over the coming months as we go through the various sunrise periods prior to the public launch.
In some respects the .eu namespace will probably be a lot safer from scam artists and squatters than other TLDs, however it may fall on either Eurid or the national authorities to enforce some of the rules with their accredited registrars.
Personally I favour self-regulation where possible, however I am also aware that certain companies will never submit to self-regulation and have a tendency to flaunt the rules.
One potential scam I came across (via an ad on this site) concerned me. The company in question has been accredited by EUrid, so I would have thought, perhaps naively, that they would respect the rules:
For non-validated applications, the application fee will be refunded except for the administrative cost (15 EUR).
:”Eurid Fees table”:http://www.eurid.eu/en/registrarInfo/fees.html
However, they don’t. In fact they state:
6.1.1.The Fees are payable notwithstanding the fact that the Request may be unsuccessful.
6.1.2.The Fees are fully non-refundable.
Maybe I’m missing something, but it looks to me like they won’t give any refund whereas they will be receiving one from the registry. I could understand them levying a handling or administration fee, as the documentation required etc., is time-consuming, but no refund at all sounds a bit dodgy to me.
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