As best I can tell, this represents the state of the rules for the IE domain as of 1996, obtained (by permission) from Dr. Niall O' Reilly himself.
The top-level Internet domain name for Ireland is IE. In common with other top-level domains, the IE domain is administered by a naming authority. This function is provided for the IE domain as a public service by University College Dublin.
The hostmaster team at UCD Computing Services has been taking care of this work since 1991. This team has developed policies and procedures based on Internet standards, on discussions with service providers and B network experts both within and outside Ireland, and on experience.
These policies and procedures are described here in order to provide a point of reference for applicants, for service providers, and for the hostmaster team itself so that each application for registration of a domain name within IE can be handled predictably, consistently, and without any delay due to misunderstanding.
The sections of this document are arranged as follows.
Introduction (this section)
Procedure
Requirements
Refusal of Registration
Updating and Termination of Registration
Recommendations
Liability and Indemnity
This document was first published in June 1995. It was most recently revised in September 1996.
An index of current hostmaster documents is also available.
As already mentioned, this document is based on contributions from many people by way of suggestion and discussion. Such contributions are gratefully acknowledged from colleagues in UCD; from Mike Norris, Mike Nowlan, Nick Hilliard, Daniel Karrenberg; and especially from Piet Beertema, who provided a copy of the requirements for registration of an Internet domain under NL.
An application for registration of a domain name under the top-level domain IE must be submitted to the
Naming Authority for the IE Internet Domain
University College Dublin
Computing Services
Belfield
Dublin 4
Phone: (01) 706-2375
FAX: (01) 706-2862
E-mail: hostmaster@ucd.ieQuestions regarding registration may also be addressed here, preferably by electronic mail.
The naming authority for IE deals only with primary sub-domains of the top-level domain IE. Second- (or lower-) level sub-domain registration is the responsibility of the administrative contact-person for the primary sub-domain (see below).
Each application for registration of a new domain name must include the following items.
The proposed name for the new domain; and
The full name of the applicant; and
The legal status (natural person, statutory body, semi-state, type of corporate body: plc, ltd, ...) and
The postal address of the applicant; and
The name of the administrative contact-person for the domain; and
The e-mail address of this contact-person; and
The telephone number of this contact-person; and
The FAX number, if any, of this contact person; and either
If the domain has no IP connectivity yet, or if it has IP connectivity but no nameserver is yet reachable from the primary nameserver for the IE domain, the name(s) of the Internet host(s) which will act as the Internet mail server(s) for the new domain, with a preference value (lowest is most preferred) for each if more than one host name is given; or
The hostnames and IP addresses of the nameservers for the new domain; and
If the contact-person for the most preferred Internet mailserver (2.9a above) or for the primary nameserver (2.9b above) is not the same person as that named as the administrative contact-person for the domain (2.4 above), the name and other details of the contact-person for this server, as for the administrative contact-person (2.4-7 above); and
The names and other details of any additional contact-persons, if any, as for the administrative contact-person (2.4-7 above); and
A declaration that the applicant (and, where the application is made on behalf of the applicant by a service provider, also the service provider) accepts the conditions of liability and indemnity specified in section 7 of this document.
The preferred format for submitting registration or update information is based on RIPE object templates.
The contact persons registered for a domain may include one or more representatives of the service provider. However, at least one of the contact persons registered must represent the applicant rather than the service provider, and must have authority to act for the applicant.
On acceptance of an application for registration of a new domain name, the hostmaster team makes the necessary entries in the DNS zone file for the IE domain, and the applicant becomes the holder of the domain name.
Whenever any of the registration details for a domain must be updated, any of the registered contact persons may submit an update request (see below).
At the time of registration, the proposed domain name must be both valid and available. Then and subsequently, the domain must be reachable and well managed so as to avoid un-necessary nuisance to other network users. These four classes of requirement are specified in detail in this section.
: The following characters are allowed in the name of a sub-domain: the characters of the Roman alphabet without diacritical marks and irrespective of case [A-Z,a-z], the numeric characters [0-9], and the hyphen [-]. The first and last characters of the name must be either alphabetic or numeric.
: The length of a sub-domain name must be at least three characters.
: A sub-domain name must be distinct from any of the recognised top-level domain names (ARPA, COM, EDU, GOV, MIL, NET, ORG, ...).
: A domain name shall correspond with reasonable closeness to the name of the applicant or to an abbreviation or trademark by which the applicant is well known.
: Where the proposed name is either already in use, or appears likely to be claimed by another applicant, another name shall be chosen. For example, such names as , , , and are protected by this requirement.
: Where the proposed name is in the opinion of the naming authority likely to lead to confusion, another name shall be chosen.
: At least one Internet host shall be identified where mail for the domain may be routed with the agreement of the manager of this host. Moreover, this host must be able to handle mail for the domain.
: The domain must provide a point of contact for electronic mail where requests for information may be addressed. The standard address for this point of contact is .
: If the domain has IP connectivity and it is desired to register a nameserver, then at least one secondary nameserver must be registered in addition to the primary nameserver, and the primary nameserver must be reachable from the primary nameserver for the IE domain. Moreover, the agreement of the manager of each nameserver to provide name service for the proposed domain must be obtained in advance.
: Outgoing mail from the sub-domain must satisfy the requirements of RFC-822. In particular, header lines in messages must not include any address either consisting only of a username (’local part’ in RFC-822 terminology ) or containing a partially qualified domain name.
A request to register a domain name may be refused on any of the following grounds.
: Insufficient information (see section 2 above).
: Failure to satisfy the requirements (see section 3 above).
: The applicant already holds a domain name under IE.
Any of those registered as a contact person for a domain may at any time request an update to or termination of the domain’s registration. The naming authority will normally give effect to such a request within the same delay as for a registration request.
When the holder of a domain name is changing service provider or engaging the services of an additional service provider, the new service provider is specifically excluded by the provisions of the preceding paragraph from requesting an update to the domain’s registration. The new service provider may advise the naming authority of what is planned (and this is normally useful), but the latter shall take no action without first receiving a request from an already-registered contact person for the domain in question, who represents the holder of the domain name. By this means, the naming authority avoids acting with a third party to interfere in an existing relationship between service provider and client.
Whenever the naming authority receives conflicting requests for update to or termination of a domain’s registration, the naming authority shall be free to determine which, if any, request to honour.
When a domain ceases to satisfy any of the conditions of reachability or of good management (see section 3 above), the contact person(s) shall be notified and given the opportunity to correct the deficiency. Should the necessary action not be taken within a reasonable delay, the naming authority shall be free to terminate registration of the domain without further notice.
: Mail routing and/or IP connectivity for a domain must in most cases be arranged by a service provider. In such a case it is preferable and more effective that the service provider submit the request for registration on behalf of the applicant.
: RIPE, the coordinating body for IP networking in Europe, provides a database of (among other things) domains and their contact persons. This database is accessible from the whole Internet. Applicants are encouraged to register their domain with RIPE.
University College Dublin acts as naming authority as a public service neutrally and in good faith subject to the following conditions.
: The holder of a domain name shall indemnify University College Dublin and its servants or agents and shall hold University College Dublin and its servants or agents harmless from and against any loss, damage, liability, claim or expense resulting from a claim or claims asserted by a third party regarding ownership of or right to use the domain name in question.
: No liability shall attach to University College Dublin or its servants or agents in respect of any loss or damage whatsoever suffered by the applicant or a service provider and arising from any action or neglect on the part of University College Dublin or its servants or agents in the exercise of the function of the naming authority.
Niall O' Reilly