Are there ccTLD Americans can't register?

[JB Lions]

Probably a thread on it somewhere already and I'm not typing the right things in search to find it but for somebody living in the U.S. are there ccTLD that can't be registered? Like a .de, .es, .fr etc. Thanks.

[katherine]

.de: open but local admin required if the holder does not reside in Germany
.es: unrestricted
.fr: restricted to French citizens/French residents

[copper]

I don't think you can register .ca

[Acro]

.ir = suitable for Internet Reactors

[fab]

.it for Europeans only.

[MAllie]

Presumably .ie, because even though I live in Ireland I had to provide evidence when buying a name that I had a registered business name linked to it, and my daughter and a friend had to register a business name to be allowed to have the same one in .ie. However, although they still have the business name, I notice that someone picked up the .ie when they allowed it to drop, so there must be a loophole there somewhere.

[jmcc]

Presumably .ie, because even though I live in Ireland I had to provide evidence when buying a name that I had a registered business name linked to it, and my daughter and a friend had to register a business name to be allowed to have the same one in .ie. However, although they still have the business name, I notice that someone picked up the .ie when they allowed it to drop, so there must be a loophole there somewhere.

Businesses with a trademark can register a .ie domain but they must have a substantive connection to Ireland. A Registered Business Name is not quite the same as a trademark and anyone can register an RBN. When the .ie domain dropped, it was probably picked up by someone with an equally valid claim on the doman. Blacknight has launched a dropped IE website ( www.dropped.ie ) where the recent .ie drops appear.

The .ie ccTLD is growing and the .ie is beginning to replace the .com as the default TLD in Ireland. However there are some good keyword type domains still available - but mainly to Irish registrants.

Technically .eu ccTLD is supposed to be for residents of the EU and other rights holders but the registry is so incompetent that a large number of .eu domains are owned by people in the US and Canada. This is often done through front companies registered in an EU country.

Regards...jmcc

[MAllie]

Businesses with a trademark can register a .ie domain but they must have a substantive connection to Ireland. A Registered Business Name is not quite the same as a trademark and anyone can register an RBN. When the .ie domain dropped, it was probably picked up by someone with an equally valid claim on the doman. Blacknight has launched a dropped IE website ( www.dropped.ie ) where the recent .ie drops appear.

The .ie ccTLD is growing and the .ie is beginning to replace the .com as the default TLD in Ireland. However there are some good keyword type domains still available - but mainly to Irish registrants.

Technically .eu ccTLD is supposed to be for residents of the EU and other rights holders but the registry is so incompetent that a large number of .eu domains are owned by people in the US and Canada.

Regards...jmcc

Thanks for that information, JMCC. It's most enlightening.

I find the .eu situation puzzling. Sometimes when I check a name on Whois it's not taken, but when I go to the registrar to try to buy it it's gone. I know Whois warns their info might be 24 hours out of date, but for so many names it seems strange.

[jmcc]

Thanks for that information, JMCC. It's most enlightening.

I find the .eu situation puzzling. Sometimes when I check a name on Whois it's not taken, but when I go to the registrar to try to buy it it's gone. I know Whois warns their info might be 24 hours out of date, but for so many names it seems strange.

This is often because the registrar checks are sometimes done at DNS level so if a domain isn't in the zone, the domain will be shown as available for registration. The problem with .eu is that perhaps tens of thousands of .eu domains are not in the .eu zone as they are being hidden by their cyberwarehousing registrars. The best way to check a .eu domain's availability is directly on the Eurid site (www.whois.eu) or via their DAS server.

Regards...jmcc

[MAllie]

This is often because the registrar checks are sometimes done at DNS level so if a domain isn't in the zone, the domain will be shown as available for registration. The problem with .eu is that perhaps tens of thousands of .eu domains are not in the .eu zone as they are being hidden by their cyberwarehousing registrars. The best way to check a .eu domain's availability is directly on the Eurid site (www.whois.eu) or via their DAS server.

Regards...jmcc

Ah, thanks once again, jmcc. I will do that in future.

[CanSpace]

I don't think you can register .ca

Correct... only Canadians can register a ca domain

[realtimeregister]

Anyone in the world can apply for .DE
However if the Registrant as well as the Admin contact doesn't have an contact address in Germany, the Admin contact address of Registrar will be used.
So just check for a Registrar that is a member of Denic and you shouldbe able to register a .de

[adrlux]

Some Registrars are offering so called Trustee Services which allow you to register Domains using the Registrar's local Presence. With a Trademark you can register nearly all ccTLD's in Europe.