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Comment by sailormoon | Hacker News Reader

This is a very misleading article. The restriction is only on .CN domain names and is in line with plenty of other domain types around the world, for example .co.jp.

Here's the original source:

http://business.globaltimes.cn/china-economy/2009-12/491515....

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Ireland did something similar for a while. They would refuse registrations that were 'too general' (eg cars.co.ie) on the grounds that they should be reserved for people who were capable of handling them ie established businesses. There was no lobbying to do this, it was just the natural thing to do, in their eyes.

I think this Chinese effort is equally misguided, but I assume some of it has to do with trying to cut off domain tasters and spammers at the knees. Consider that China doesn't have anything like the same level of consumer protection/awareness as Western countries; I don't think it's necessarily an attack on entrepreneurs or free speech.

Also .com.au requires a business number to register. There are other restrictions too. Similarly .asn.au can only be registered by non-commercial organisations.

Also many european business domains are restricted to eu businesses etc.

This is very common amongst many registrars... and is a good thing generally... I think.

"... Also .com.au requires a business number to register. There are other restrictions too. Similarly .asn.au can only be registered by non-commercial organisations. ..."

Thanks to kre (Kevin Robert Elz) ~ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Robert_Elz you cannot get a ".com.au" domain name without having a registered business name. The idea was to stop domain name speculation ~ http://www.passioncomputing.com.au/Articles/Australian-domai... Good in the short term when one person was administering domain names, not so good now as it adds extra overhead for a ".com.au" small market.

Actually, you can get it with just an ABN - doesn't have to be a full registered business name. You could register yourself as a sole trader, for example, it's free.

I don't mind the system actually. That, and the far higher prices, mean that there's actually a decent chance any given domain is available.

"... Actually, you can get it with just an ABN - doesn't have to be a full registered business name. You could register yourself as a sole trader, for example, it's free. ..."

Learn something new everyday, thanks for that info.

Thanks for the link. (Odd, my submission must have been moderated, as I submitted a ft.com link, not the telecompaper.com one...)

In Turkey, there is a similar process for com.tr domain names. You have to provide some sort of business or trade mark registration documents to be able to register com.tr

So an individual is also prohibited from registering a .co.jp? It seams reasonable to me to restrict .gov.x or .edu.x, but .co.x?

I don't know about .co.jp, but individuals can definitely register .co.uk domains. I know because I own one.

Australia provides a .id.au for individuals. .com.au is reserved for "businesses". (Since no-one (outside of places like HN) has ever heard of .id.au we either use .com or register a bus. name to get the .com.au)

A .co.jp can only be registered by a proper company, yeah. You know .. .COmpany.JP :)

A plain .jp, however, has no such restrictions; individuals can buy them.

Seems reasonable to restrict any of them to their intended registrees. Just because the USA didn't enforce it (and now the namespace is an absolute mess) doesn't mean other countries shouldn't.

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