Because it is important for rights-holders to protect their domain name rights, the association has published a “Practical Guide for Rights-Holders”. This summary document compiles a series of useful, practical items of information, forming an easy-to-follow guide in the world of domain names under the .fr TLD (or any of the other namespaces managed by Afnic).
Readers will learn in particular:
- How to check if a domain name infringes their rights;
- The tools provided by Afnic enabling them to contact the current registrant of the domain name and solve a dispute;
- The procedures and technical operations that Afnic can set up for a domain name, and an explanation of the differences between suspending and blocking domain names.
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.