.eus

Overview

• .eus is a sponsored top-level domain intended for the Basque language and the Basque cultural-linguistic community.
• The string "eus" derives from "euskara", the Basque name for the Basque language.
• The TLD is managed by PuntuEus (PuntuEus Fundazioa / PuntuEus Association) with registry operations through Domeinuak; DNSSEC is enabled.

History

• May 2012: PuntuEus foundation applied to ICANN for the .eus gTLD to represent the Basque language and culture.
• 10 June 2013: ICANN approved creation of the domain.
• 12 December 2013: PuntuEus received a Registry Agreement signed by ICANN.
• 11 April 2014: .eus was delegated to the DNS Root Zone.
• 3 December 2014: .eus is listed as introduced (per registry information).
• Registered domains: 15,599 (date reported: Jan 11, 2024).

Usage and Audience

• Target audience: bona-fide members of the Basque linguistic and cultural community.
• Typical registrants include organizations, projects and individuals that promote Basque language and culture, Basque public authorities, and entities publishing online content in Basque.
• Before .eus was available, the .eu ccTLD was sometimes used unofficially by Basque-language sites.

Registration Rules

• Registrations are restricted to members of the Basque linguistic and cultural community and must be:
  • generally accepted as legitimate;
  • beneficial to the cause and values of the Basque linguistic and cultural community;
  • commensurate with the role and importance of the registered domain name;
  • in good faith at the time of registration and thereafter.
• Registration phases and validation:
  • Pre-launch: screening and pre-validation (pioneer/mandate programs for key community projects).
  • Launch: pre-validation with prioritized categories (see below) and a concurrent landrush for others.
  • General Availability (post-launch): post-validation through an ongoing compliance program.
• Priority categories during Launch (hierarchical):
  1. Entities with a specific vocation in promoting Basque language and/or culture, including Basque public authorities.
  2. Trademark and other distinctive sign holders (including trademarks validated by the Trademark Clearinghouse and designations of origin).
  3. Entities with prior online communications in Basque (applicants must provide URLs showing significant Basque content; category restricted to legal entities).
  4. No prior rights: eligible registrants without prior claims may apply during the landrush period.
• Registrations are generally processed on a first-come, first-served chronological basis, subject to the community nexus and compliance checks.
• Registrants must follow the .eus Registration Policy, the registrar's Registration Agreement, and applicable ICANN policies.
• Applicants are asked to state intended use of the domain; false statements can be grounds for suspension.

SEO and Brand Impact

• .eus is positioned primarily as a cultural and linguistic community TLD to represent Basque identity online, similar in intent to the .cat sTLD for Catalan.
• The registry's policy emphasizes community nexus and trademark protection (use of the Trademark Clearinghouse is part of launch-phase priorities), aimed at reducing cybersquatting and abusive registrations.

Notable Cases or Examples

• Early coordination: in 2008 dotCYMRU, dotEUS, dotSCOT and dotBZH formed ECLID to collaborate on community TLD efforts.
• The European Commission flagged the .eus application among a set of new gTLD applications for potential compatibility issues with EU legislation; the application nevertheless proceeded through ICANN processes and was delegated.
• PuntuEus pursued outreach and sought written support from a range of Basque-centric entities and planned to prioritize prominent community actors during pre-launch and launch phases.

% IANA WHOIS server
% for more information on IANA, visit http://www.iana.org
% This query returned 1 object

domain:       EUS

organisation: Puntueus Fundazioa
address:      Arriola 2, Donostia
address:      Gizpuzkoa 20018
address:      Spain

contact:      administrative
name:         TLD Administrative Contact
organisation: CORE Association
address:      2, Cours de Rive
address:      Geneva CH-1204
address:      Switzerland
phone:        +41 223 125 610
fax-no:       +41 223 125 612
e-mail:       secretariat@corenic.org

contact:      technical
name:         TLD TechAdmin
organisation: CORE Association
address:      2, Cours de Rive
address:      Geneva CH-1204
address:      Switzerland
phone:        +41 223 125 610
fax-no:       +41 223 125 612
e-mail:       dnsmaster@corenic.org

nserver:      ANYCAST10.IRONDNS.NET 195.253.64.12 2a01:5b0:4:0:0:0:0:c
nserver:      ANYCAST23.IRONDNS.NET 195.253.65.11 2a01:5b0:5:0:0:0:0:b
nserver:      ANYCAST24.IRONDNS.NET 195.253.65.12 2a01:5b0:5:0:0:0:0:c
nserver:      ANYCAST9.IRONDNS.NET 195.253.64.11 2a01:5b0:4:0:0:0:0:b
ds-rdata:     37627 10 2 04415714a6df5f737093919d47fda7fe0745d4a0ae9dfd4e8652d51d49bac4db

whois:        whois.nic.eus

status:       ACTIVE
remarks:      Registration information: https://www.domeinuak.eus

created:      2014-03-06
changed:      2022-01-07
source:       IANA