Afnic, the .fr domain name registry, has opened two public consultations which are related to mitigating DNS abuse.
Afnic is the domain registry for .fr, which is France’s country code top level domain (ccTLD). They also run the registry for several of Frances “overseas territories” (.re, .pm,, .wf and .yt).
The consultations are covering two separate, yet related topics.
The first is in relation to registrant verification, while the second is for dealing with registrars who do not fully comply with the rules around this. While the .fr ccTLD is relatively “open” there are some geographic restrictions ie. you need to be based in the European Union to register a .fr domain.
The consultations opened on 16th October and will run until 24th November 2023.
You can download the relevant documents and submit your feedback via links from here and here.
NB: the documents are available in both French and English.
For those following current developments in EU law and internet policies the focus of the consultations will not come as a surprise. DNS abuse has been a “topic” of interest at ICANN and for many of the domain name registries for the last few years. With the upcoming NIS2 Directive there are some new obligations for companies offering domain name registration services, specifically in relation to domain registration accuracy.
I suspect several of the ccTLDs will be modifying their policies in advance of NIS2, though there is still a lack of clarity from the member states on many aspects of the new legislation.
