UK-based owners of .eu web domains have been granted a three-month extension to the deadline forcing them to change their registration details to an address in the European Union.
It means that they now have until June 30 before their domains are permanently revoked, at which point they will have had to have either fired up a website builder to create a new online portal, moved their registration address to one in the EU, or simply abandoned their online activities.
“We would hereby like to update you that these domain names will remain in 'SUSPENDED' status until 30 June 2021 instead of the previously published date, 31 March 2021,” the .eu registry operator EURid explained. “This extension of three months provides registrar and registrants that have not yet updated their registration data the opportunity to demonstrate their compliance with the .eu regulatory framework.”
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It is thought that there are around 74,000 British owners of .eu domain names, although it is not clear how many of those intend to continue using the domains beyond the cut-off period. EURid reports that around 7,000 at-risk domains have been updated since January to avoid permanent suspension.
Deadline extended
Although the extension is likely to be welcomed by UK holders of .eu domains, those affected by the rules may be wondering why the EU is imposing such a policy. It is common practice for domain owners to continue using registered addresses until the time comes to pay renewal fees. Instead, the EU has set an arbitrary deadline.
For businesses with .eu portals, the deadline adds extra stress, particularly as they may still be working their way through other Brexit-related regulatory shifts. There are also a huge number of online businesses today, with e-commerce firms, professional photographers, and small businesses of all kinds now boasting an online presence.
Fortunately, there’s not much that UK owners of .eu domains have to do to keep their website running as usual. They simply need to ask their domain registrar to set up an address within the EU – they do not have to physically change their personal or business address.
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Via The Register
