.nu
| .nu domain | |
| Introduced | 1997 |
|---|---|
| TLD type | Country code top-level domain |
| Status | Active |
| Registry | .NU Domain Ltd |
| Sponsor | Internet Users Society - Niue |
| Intended use | Entities connected with Niue |
| Actual use | Used for a multiplicity of sites all over, few with any connection to Niue; especially popular in Scandinavia, the Netherlands and Belgium since "nu" is Swedish, Danish, and Dutch for "now" |
| Registration restrictions | None |
| Structure | Registrations permitted at second level |
| Documents | Terms and conditions |
| Dispute policies | UDRP |
| Registry website | NuNames |
.nu is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) assigned to the island state of Niue. It was one of the first ccTLDs to be marketed to the Internet at large as an alternative to the gTLDs .com, .net, and .org. Playing on the phonetic similarity between nu and new, it was promoted as a "new" TLD in which there was an abundance of good domain names available. However now most of the top .nu's have been taken.
The domain is particularly popular in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands and Belgium, as nu is the word for "now" in Swedish, Danish and Dutch. [1] Partially owing to restrictive domain rules for the ccTLD assigned to Sweden, .se, .nu was used for creative marketing of websites such as www.TV.nu. However, the .se domain was generally considered more professional than .nu and .com. Registrations of Internationalized domain names and Unicode special characters are also allowed [2].
In Brazil, .nu is occasionally used to construct joke domain names as "nu" is the Portuguese word for naked.[3] Likewise, the French jesuistout.nu ("I am naked") is used as an e-mail redirector.
Actual nudity, however, is rarely welcome[4] and various names such as six.nu, sex.nu, xxx.nu, vous.nu and por.nu merely return "THIS DOMAIN NAME HAS BEEN REVOKED BY .NU DOMAIN"[5] and are not available for registration on .NUdomains' site.[6]
Domain names can be as short as one character; for instance, u.nu ("you knew") is a travel photo site. A premium of just under €1000/yr applies to name registrations of less than three characters in length.
Internet Users Society - Niue administers the TLD. A 2005 UDRP case regarding nudomain.com[7] made the assertion under "Factual background" that "The Complainants [WorldNames, Inc. and NU Domain Ltd] own and operate the .NU ccTLD". The companies in question are operating the registry for .nu on behalf of the Internet Users Society, but it is incorrect to state that they "own" the TLD, as TLDs in general are delegated and managed rather than "owned".[8][9] The case does, however, point out that these companies own a registered trademark to ".nudomain" in several countries.
According to an extensive report issued by McAfee SiteAdvisor in March 2007, websites using the .NU top level domain are among the lowest risk to Web users on the Internet. [10]
References
- ^ OmegaWiki: "nu"
- ^ IDN details
- ^ List of domain hacks
- ^ On a tiny island, catchy Web name sparks a battle
- ^ google.nu: list of revoked .nu domains
- ^ .NUdomains
- ^ See the WIPO Administrative Panel Decision
- ^ Computerworld NZ: Niue struggles against ‘digital colonialism’, 27 March 2007
- ^ Radio NZ: Niue government criticised over internet stance, 13 November 2007
- ^ SiteAdvisor: Mapping the MalWeb, March 2007