Norid, the registry for Norway’s country code domain .NO, and SIDN, the registry for the Dutch country code .NL, announced that the deal to sell the right to use the.BV domain has been blocked by the Norwegian Government, Domain Incite reports. The registries had earlier reached an agreement on making the .BV domain available to the Dutch market. The domain name was delegated to Norway in 1997.
The domain is reserved for the Norwegian dependent territory of Bouvet Island, one of the remotest islands in the world. The small volcanic territory is almost entirely covered by glaciers and uninhabited. In the 20 years since its allocation, the domain has never been used. The Netherlands’ interest stems from the fact that BV is the widespread Dutch acronym for “Besloten vennootschap met beperkte aansprakelijkheid,” which has pretty much the same meaning as “Ltd” or “LLC.” Many Dutch companies may have been eager to add their domains to the .BV zone.
The mutually beneficial deal between the two national registries was almost closed when the Norwegian Government vetoed it.
