NIC Argentina enables the registration of domains ‘.ar’ of 1, 2 or 3 characters
By María Paula Giannetti and Josefina Piñeiro.
On January 5, 2022, Resolution No. 2/22 was approved, which enables the possibility of registering from 1 (ONE) to 3 (THREE) characters under the “.ar” zone.
NIC Argentina —National Internet Domain Registry Directorate— is a body dependent on the Legal and Technical Secretariat of the Presidency of the Nation, whose function is to administer and manage Internet domain registries in the country, as well as to guarantee a safe and reliable access to all people.
On January 5, 2022, the Legal and Technical Secretariat issued Resolution No. 2/22. That is included in its annex by the “Regulations for the Administration of Internet Domains in Argentina” (the “Regulations”). In this way, the Regulation that as an annex integrates Resolution No. 43, issued in 2019, has been replaced.
The main objective of the reform has been to open the possibility of registering from 1 (ONE) to 3 (THREE) characters under the “.ar” zone. Only this zone was subject to restrictions in relation to their number, since the minimum should be 4 (FOUR) characters.
In order to unify the policy on the number of minimum and maximum characters, the “.ar” is added to the remaining managed zones (for example “.com”; “.gov”; “.coop”; etc.) where it is possible to register domains between 1 (ONE) and 50 (FIFTY) characters.
Nonetheless, the approval of the registration will be subject to the criteria and considerations of NIC.ar, in order to preserve good customs and avoid the registration of domain names that are offensive, discriminatory, contrary to the law or that could lend themselves to confusion, fraud or impersonation of age.
The purpose of the measure has been to expand the possibilities of registration options, to make it easier for users to create more attractive and memorable domains for consumers. The increase in new registered Internet sites, according to the director of NIC.ar —Andrea Ramos— has been 20% since the start of the pandemic. Undoubtedly, it has been a determining factor in the dictation of the norm[1].
On the other hand, the requirements and procedures to be followed for the registration of Internet domain names in the “.AR” zone have been regulated in Provision No. 13/22, also published last month. In its respective Annex, it provides that the requirements will be CUIT and Fiscal Key and, at first, registration will not have any restrictions, with the exception of domain names of 1 (ONE) to 3 (THREE) characters that must have prior intervention of NIC Registration Department.
Additionally, Resolution No. 1/22 published on January 5 established an increase in tariffs for both “.ar” and “.com.ar”. This will be $540 to $950 and $270 to $475 per year, respectively. It will be the first since 2017.
References:
- Resolution 2/2022 available at: https://www.boletinoficial.gob.ar/detalleAviso/primera/255797/20220106
- Resolution 1/22 available at: https://www.boletinoficial.gob.ar/detalleAviso/primera/255743/20220105
- Provision 13/22 available at: https://www.boletinoficial.gob.ar/detalleAviso/primera/256061/20220113?busqueda=1
For further information please contact: pgiannetti@ojambf.com.
[1] Cf., Télam Argentina, After five years, the price of internet domain registration is updated, 9/1/22, available online at https://www.telam.com.ar/notas/202201/580401-registro -domain-internet-update.html
