The Estonian Internet Foundation - the country's .EE country code domain registry - has announced that it is opening up the possibility of registering previously reserved premium domain names. The registry said in a statement that these are names that have been reserved for more than 12 years and will be available for registration for the first time. In particular, these are single-character domain names, as well as names that are toponyms (names of geographical objects). “The Estonian Internet Foundation (EIF) reserved and blocked domain names in 2011 in order to make them available for institutions with a legitimate interest. While many reserved domain names have found an owner in the past 12 years, the domains that have not attracted interest during that time are now available to everyone worldwide,” the message says.
From the point of view of the domain business, many domain names that are opening for registration are of considerable interest. We are talking, in particular, about domains, both parts of which (before and after the dot) together form a meaningful word - for example b.ee or s.ee. Domain industry professionals refer to such names as domain hacks.
From September 12, domain names that have become available for registration will be put up for auction in weekly portions, organized according to the English (open) model. This means that every bidder will be able to see the rate change in real time. Each auction will last a week, with the last one taking place next summer. The Domains, reporting this news, quotes the head of the Estonian Internet Foundation, Heiki Sibul, who said that funds from the auctions will be used to further optimize the activities of the national domain of Estonia and improve Internet security in the country: “In this way, auction participants will contribute to making the Internet better in Estonia."
