About the policy for the .no

The domain name policy covers the rules for registering, holding, updating, transferring, and deleting domains within .no, and is the contract between Norid and the domain name holders.

The purpose of the domain name policy is to ensure that the administration and allocation of domain names take place in a way that serves the interests of Norwegian society as a whole.

Main requirements

• have a local presence in Norway
• be an organization. At present this is defined as being one of certain forms of organization registered in the Brønnøysund Register Centre
• ensure that the domain is technically operative

Each domain name holder may have up to 100 domain names directly within the .no domain. In addition, the holder can register domain names under geographical domains or category second-level domains.

Individuals may not register domain names directly within the .no domain, but may register within priv.no.

Why is the domain name policy the way it is?

The main principles for the current policy were decided on after a broad-based public enquiry in February 2001. The fundamental concept is that an applicant's need to register the name he or she wants must take precedence over the desire to prevent illegal registration of domain names.

As a consequence of this, there is no requirement for applicants to prove their rights to a domain name before registering it. Applicants must however sign a declaration in which they confirm that they are not infringing the rights of other parties to the name. In addition, there is an alternative dispute resolution body, the domain complaints board, which deals with disputes involving the rights of third parties.

The quota of 100 domain names per applicant is also intended to limit domain name speculation and warehousing.