WRITTEN QUESTION E-2630/01 by Elly Plooij-van Gorsel (ELDR)and Jules Maaten (ELDR) to the Commission. Internet domain names.
Date: 2001-09-27
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Internet, Internet site, Netherlands, competition law, information network, intellectual property, law relating to information

C 134 E/64

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

6.6.2002

As for the Honourable Member’s specific questions concerning the votes taken in several Council meetings
held in June and July 2001, the following answers can be given:

# 2362nd Council meeting of 25/26 June 2001:

# No votes were taken.

# 2364th Council meeting of 27/28 June 2001:

# Adoption

of

the

Council

Commission
Regulation (EC) No 1107/96 on the registration of geographical indications and designations of
origin under the procedure laid down in Article 17 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2081/92, with
three votes against (DK, FIN, S) and one abstention (A).

supplementing

the Annex

Regulation

to

# Adoption of a Common Position on the directive amending for the 20th time the Directive
substances and

relating to restrictions on the marketing and use of certain dangerous
preparations, with three votes against (B, DK, NL).

# 2365th Council meeting of 10 July 2001:

# No votes were taken.

# 2367th Council meeting of 16 July 2001:

# No votes were taken.

# 2368th Council meeting of 20 July 2001:

# No votes were taken.

(2002/C 134 E/066)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2630/01

by Elly Plooij-van Gorsel (ELDR)
and Jules Maaten (ELDR) to the Commission

(27 September 2001)

Subject: Internet domain names

1.
Is the Commission aware that SIDN (Stichting Internet Domeinregistratie), the umbrella organisation
for the registration and release of Internet domain names in the Netherlands, refuses to register domain
names consisting only of numbers (e.g. www.001. nl)?

2.
It is, however, possible to register numbers-only domain names in other European countries, e.g.
Switzerland and Italy. Furthermore, there are now the necessary domain extensions (. com,. net,. org,. tv)
with which numbers-only names can in fact be used, and these can be registered by private individuals and
businesses themselves. What is more, the rules of various RFCs quite often appear to be contradictory or
vague. This results in a lack of clarity and in uncertainty. Does the Commission take the view that this
could lead to distortion of competition within the European Union?

3.

If so, how does the Commission propose to prevent it?

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(13 November 2001)

Individual registries in the Member States primarily deal with registry policies for country-code Top Level
Domains (ccTLDs), including naming policies. Internet management generally is based on the principles of
self-management and self-regulation. In this respect, the Commission recalls Parliament’s resolution of
2001 on the Commission communication to the Council and Parliament on ‘The Organisation and
Management of the Internet # International and European Policy Issues 1998-2000’ (1).

6.6.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 134 E/65

In this resolution (2), Parliament argued that neither the Commission, nor national governments should
interfere in the organisation and management of the Internet. Parliament stipulated that Commission and
national governments should give the Internet sufficient independence and a legal basis at international
level so that it can be an independent network.

The Commission is aware that the types of names that can be registered under the Top Level Domain
currently vary between European ccTLDs. It is also aware that some ccTLDs in the Member States apply
restrictions on the use of certain configurations of numbers in domain names. The Commission
understands that decisions to restrict the use of these domain names appear to have been made for
technical reasons related to the need to ensure stability on the Internet, as well as to minimise confusion
amongst users. From the information available to the Commission, it is not clear in which way these
restrictions could give rise to a distortion of competition at European level.

Furthermore, it has to be pointed out that the Internet Engineering Task Force issues Internet Requests for
Comments (RFCs), not the Commission.

As far as competition policy considerations are concerned, the Commission has not received any antitrust
complaint relating to the registration of domain names of numbers only. Under the circumstances
described by the Honourable Member, the Commission is not in a position to conclude that there are
distortions of competition, which would justify an own initiative procedure. The Commission is however
investigating other cases where potential abuse of a market-dominating position may be occurring in the
form of restriction on ccTLD name registration.

(1) COM(2000) 202 final.
(2) A5-0063/2001.

(2002/C 134 E/067)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2632/01

by Hans Karlsson (PSE) to the Commission

(27 September 2001)

Subject: Employees’ right to information

It is most important for workers to be given information in good time on planned changes to the
undertaking where they work. Efforts to improve the right to information date back a long way, and were
a live issue most recently during the Swedish Presidency this year.

There is now a clear trend for employers not to meet their obligation to inform workers of changes in the
undertaking’s activities. There are grounds for suspecting that employers are deliberately withholding
important information. The most recent case was when Avesta Polarit decided to close the Degerfors
foundry and Carrier decided to move its production from Arvika to Hungary.

Is the Commission aware of this trend?

What action can the Commission take to ensure that employees are given information on planned changes
at a workplace?

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(9 November 2001)

The Commission shares the concerns of the Honourable Member that workers be given information in
good time on planned changes in the undertaking where they work. It is to ensure that this happens that
the Commission, in 1998, made a proposal for a Council Directive establishing a general framework for
informing and consulting employees in the Community (1).