Europe is about to become an Internet fixture with the launch of its own extension -- the .eu domain -- and businesses are girding for the battle to bear the precious two letters. \nWhile the date for the attribution of the new extension has not yet been set, businesses have been gearing up for the prestigious new Web address. \nFive hundred million potential European candidates for the new domain will converge in a "gold rush," Indom said, a French firm specialized in the registration of name domains. \n"The opening of a new extension on the Internet is a major event" for businesses, said Thomas Sertillanges, Indom's communications director. \nThe pivotal move "closes the door to other companies by depriving them of the chance to get strategic names," he explained, while it also "opens the door for those wanting to expand their presence on the Internet." \nAt the end of last year, there were an estimated 65 million domain names, with 32 million of them ending in the .com extension. \nUnlike .com -- originally created to designate commercial activities but then attributed freely following the success of the Internet -- .eu aims to keep its specificity: a EU identity. \n"The companies who want to give a European dimension to their businesses can't allow themselves to be absent from this new zone," said Stephane Van Gelder, co-founder of Indom and administrator of AFNIC, the body that manages domain names in France. \nIn October last year, the commission gave the green light to EURid, the Belgium-based registrar of European domain names, to set up the rules of attribution for .eu. \nThose rules were expected to be published in the coming weeks, although their main points were already widely known. \nThe .eu extension will be available for any business with its headquarters, its administration or its main office in the EU, as well as any organization established in the EU or any person residing in any of the bloc's 25 member states. \nSwitzerland, which is not an EU member, will not be eligible for the shared identity, at least not initially. \nDuring a so-called "sunrise" period, certain companies will benefit from a priority registration for the extension, on the basis of the registration of a trademark. Other customers enjoying early-bird treatment will be public organizations and the registrations of origin certifications, such as for champagne or Parma ham. \nDuring this period, due to begin early in the second half of this year, the rule "first come, first served" will prevail. \nApplications presented must be complete and accepted by "validating agents," picked by the EURid to make the grade. If not, the candidate has to get back in line. \nOn the yet-unknown launch date, the .eu extension will be available for everyone. That is when a flood of applications was expected from individuals, small companies and other candidates, still to be dealt with on a "first come, first served" basis. \nWith only one candidate able to snare a particular name, competition is expected to be heated, especially for English-language names such as television.eu, media.eu, press.eu, business.eu and sex.eu. \nAs for the latter, Van Gelder estimated that sex.com, licensed for an annual fee of roughly US$50 a year, was worth about US$10 million.
ANTI-SHIP CONFIGURATION: The Tuo Chiang-class vessels are to be built for NT$9.7 billion by Lung Teh, a shipyard that previously built four similar corvettes for the navy The Ministry of National Defense on Wednesday awarded Lung Teh Shipbuilding (龍德造船) a NT$9.7 billion Co (US$317.57 million) contract to build five Tuo Chiang-class corvettes with anti-ship capabilities, a defense official familiar with the matter said yesterday. The corvettes would carry vertical launchers for four Hsiung Feng II (HF-2) missiles, as well as eight Hsiung Feng III (HF-3) anti-ship missiles, in contrast to ships configured for anti-air warfare, which carry eight HF-2 and four HF-3 missiles, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The anti-ship corvettes would be armed for improved standoff range against surface combatants and carry the latest
NINE TYPES: One of the devices can be carried by a single soldier and can destroy high-value, high-risk vehicles as well as target personnel, an official said Taiwan’s top military research body yesterday unveiled nine domestically developed drones in Taichung, including a loitering munition, or “suicide drone,” similar to the US-made AeroVironment Switchblade 300. The surveillance and attack drones shown to the media by the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology included the Albatross medium-range uncrewed aerial vehicle Nos. 1 and 2, and the Teng Yun 2 and Cardinal 2 and 3 indigenous uncrewed combat aerial vehicles. The institute also unveiled a domestically made drone inspired by the AeroVironment Switchblade 300, which Ukrainian forces have employed in the country’s war with Russia. Aeronautical Systems Research Division head Chi Li-pin (齊立平)
PARTIAL SUPPORT: Morris Chang said he agrees with the US’ goal to slow advances of China’s chip sector, but US policies that might boost chip prices perplex him Washington’s efforts to on-shore semiconductor production might lead to surges in chip prices and supply bottlenecks, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) founder Morris Chang (張忠謀) said yesterday. The 91-year-old industry veteran said he supports parts of Washington’s effort to slow China’s progress on advanced chip manufacturing. China is still six years behind Taiwan in making advanced chips, despite years-long efforts to catch up, Chang told a Commonwealth Magazine forum that he coheadlined with Tufts University assistant professor Chris Miller, an expert on the US-China rivalry’s effects on chip manufacturing. However, Chang said that other parts of the effort, particularly Washington’s on-shoring
‘WRONG DECISION’: Honduras should carefully consider the situation, and not fall into China’s trap and jeopardize the bilateral friendship, the foreign ministry said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said that it had expressed “grave concern” to the government of Honduras after Honduran President Xiomara Castro on Tuesday wrote on Twitter that it would pursue official diplomatic relations with China. In addition to issuing a statement, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Yui (俞大㵢) summoned Honduran Ambassador to Taiwan Harold Burgos to the ministry in Taipei early yesterday to voice the government’s concerns. The meeting lasted about 20 minutes and Burgos did not make any public comments upon arriving at the ministry. Burgos said shortly after noon that he had not yet heard from his country’s
RSS