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Changes to the registration rules for the .fr TLD and application of the DDADUE Law

Home > Observatory and resources > News > Changes to the registration rules for the .fr TLD and application of the DDADUE Law
09/09/2021

As of 15 September 2021, the registration of domain names ending in -gouv.fr will be prohibited.

Following consultation with all of the stakeholders concerned by this change, the registration of domain names ending in -gouv.fr will be prohibited, as will their IDN versions, due to their strong similarity to “.gouv.fr”.

Afnic has also transcribed into its Naming Charter the new provisions of Law No. 2020-1508 of 3 December 2020 (known as the DDADUE Law), which strengthens the powers of the DGCCRF (French General Directorate for Competition Policy, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control) in the event of offences or breaches of the rules protecting consumers’ economic interests and the rules on the compliance and security of Internet products.

Consequently, upon receiving an injunction from the DGCCRF that falls within the compass of this Law, Afnic will henceforth block, delete or transfer to the competent authority the domain name concerned within 48 hours following receipt of the injunction.

About Afnic

Afnic is the acronym for Association Française pour le Nommage Internet en Coopération, the French Network Information Centre. The registry has been appointed by the French government to manage domain names under the .fr Top Level Domain. Afnic also manages the .re (Reunion Island), .pm (Saint-Pierre and Miquelon), .tf (French Southern and Antarctic Territories), .wf (Wallis and Futuna) and .yt (Mayotte) French Overseas TLDs.

In addition to managing French TLDs, Afnic’s role is part of a wider public interest mission, which is to contribute on a daily basis, thanks to the efforts of its teams and its members, to a secure and stable internet, open to innovation and in which the French internet community plays a leading role. As part of that mission, Afnic, a non-profit organization, has committed to devoting 11% of its Revenues from managing .fr Top Level Domain to actions of general interest, in particular by transferring €1.3 million each year to the Afnic Foundation for Digital Solidarity.
Afnic is also the back-end registry for the companies as well as local and regional authorities that have chosen to have their own TLD, such as .paris, .bzh, .alsace, .corsica, .mma, .ovh, .leclerc and .sncf.

Established in 1997 and based in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, Afnic currently has nearly 90 employees.