.be
Encyclopedia
.be is the Internet
country code
top-level domain
(ccTLD) for Belgium
. The domain became active in 1989 and was administrated by Pierre Verbaeten of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
. In 2000, the control of the TLD was transferred to DNS Belgium
. As of late 2005, more than 470,000 domains were registered.
It was announced in November 2005 that the initial registration of domains would be free until the beginning of 2006, though with some limits on the number any individual was allowed to register. This was remarkably popular, with some 17,000 registrations coming in on the first day of the promotion.
Domain names are registered directly at second level. Some of Belgian's main academic institutions, such as the Vrije Universiteit Brussel
and the Université Libre de Bruxelles
, use third-level names under ac.be, but others have abandoned its use (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
, Universiteit Gent and Université Catholique de Louvain
).
Any .be registration has to be ordered via a registered agent.
introduced a draft resolution in the Parliament
of the region of Flanders
demanding the creation of a Flemish top level domain .vl (for "Vlaanderen", Flanders in Dutch) but this resolution failed to receive support of the region's other parties. Only recognized UN member states are eligible for a two-letter domain extension. In October 2008, the Flemish government expressed its intention to obtain a three-letter domain code for Flanders, like .vla, .vln or .fla.
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
country code
Country code
Country codes are short alphabetic or numeric geographical codes developed to represent countries and dependent areas, for use in data processing and communications. Several different systems have been developed to do this. The best known of these is ISO 3166-1...
top-level domain
Top-level domain
A top-level domain is one of the domains at the highest level in the hierarchical Domain Name System of the Internet. The top-level domain names are installed in the root zone of the name space. For all domains in lower levels, it is the last part of the domain name, that is, the last label of a...
(ccTLD) for Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
. The domain became active in 1989 and was administrated by Pierre Verbaeten of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
The Katholieke Universiteit Leuven is a Dutch-speaking university in Flanders, Belgium.It is located at the centre of the historic town of Leuven, and is a prominent part of the city, home to the university since 1425...
. In 2000, the control of the TLD was transferred to DNS Belgium
DNS Belgium
DNS Belgium or DNS.be is a non-profit organisation responsible for managing the .be top level domain. Domain names are registered by the various agents of DNS Belgium, on behalf of their individual clients, as part of a decentralised registration and applications procedure.Established in 1999 by...
. As of late 2005, more than 470,000 domains were registered.
It was announced in November 2005 that the initial registration of domains would be free until the beginning of 2006, though with some limits on the number any individual was allowed to register. This was remarkably popular, with some 17,000 registrations coming in on the first day of the promotion.
Domain names are registered directly at second level. Some of Belgian's main academic institutions, such as the Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Vrije Universiteit Brussel
The Vrije Universiteit Brussel is a Flemish university located in Brussels, Belgium. It has two campuses referred to as Etterbeek and Jette.The university's name is sometimes abbreviated by "VUB" or translated to "Free University of Brussels"...
and the Université Libre de Bruxelles
Université Libre de Bruxelles
The Université libre de Bruxelles is a French-speaking university in Brussels, Belgium. It has 21,000 students, 29% of whom come from abroad, and an equally cosmopolitan staff.-Name:...
, use third-level names under ac.be, but others have abandoned its use (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
The Katholieke Universiteit Leuven is a Dutch-speaking university in Flanders, Belgium.It is located at the centre of the historic town of Leuven, and is a prominent part of the city, home to the university since 1425...
, Universiteit Gent and Université Catholique de Louvain
Université catholique de Louvain
The Université catholique de Louvain, sometimes known, especially in Belgium, as UCL, is Belgium's largest French-speaking university. It is located in Louvain-la-Neuve and in Brussels...
).
Any .be registration has to be ordered via a registered agent.
Regional domains
The far right party Vlaams BelangVlaams Belang
Vlaams Belang is a Belgian far-right political party in the Flemish Region and Brussels that advocates the independence of Flanders and strict limits on immigration, whereby immigrants would be obliged to adopt Flemish culture and language...
introduced a draft resolution in the Parliament
Flemish Parliament
The Flemish Parliament constitutes the legislative power in Flanders, for matters which fall within the competence of Flanders, both as a geographic region and a cultural community of Belgium The Flemish Parliament (Dutch: , and formerly called Flemish Council or Vlaamse Raad) constitutes the...
of the region of Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
demanding the creation of a Flemish top level domain .vl (for "Vlaanderen", Flanders in Dutch) but this resolution failed to receive support of the region's other parties. Only recognized UN member states are eligible for a two-letter domain extension. In October 2008, the Flemish government expressed its intention to obtain a three-letter domain code for Flanders, like .vla, .vln or .fla.