Lexicon > AFNIC (French Association for Internet Naming Cooperation)
IT Lexicon
The Association’s statutes state that its purpose is to promote the development of the Internet in France, and in particular to ensure the following missions:
- The allocation and management of domain names;
- The development of support services for digital economy applications and their provision to service providers;
- The transfer, at the national and international level, of the knowledge and know-how acquired;
- Support, through the creation of a fund or any structure managed directly or not :
- The development of the Internet, training and awareness of its uses;
- To its promotion and better knowledge in France;
- Any mission entrusted to it by the public authorities in the context of Internet management.
It meets twice a year to accredit registrars so that they can market domain names in the “.fr” zone.
AFNIC has also been adjudicating in the SYRELI dispute resolution system since 2011, applicable to all the TLDs it manages.
Point of legislation
“The allocation and management of domain names attached to each top level domain of the Internet domain addressing system corresponding to the country codes of the national territory or part thereof shall be centralized by a single body called the “registry”.
Article L45, paragraph 1, of the French Post and Electronic Communications Code
Point of jurisprudence
The ‘Cour d’appel de Versailles’ recalls that “Article 23 of the .fr Naming Charter, which deals with the registration rules for domain names ending in .fr, certainly provides that AFNIC should block a domain name whenever it has identified a violation of the terms or spirit of the Charter and lists a certain number of situations, without this list being exhaustive, but it is added that this provision should not be understood as an obligation to act on the part of AFNIC, but only as an option for implementation.
Cour d’appel de Versailles, Sept. 15 2011, n° 09/07860.
The Bouchara Law firm assists you in particular in :
- Judicial and extra-judicial proceedings concerning domain names (SYRELI, UDRP, cnDRP, ukDRP…);
- Domain names portfolio strategization;
- Domain names registration;
- Negotiation and redemption of domain names registered in confidence;
- The implementation of backorders.
