Council of European National Top Level Domain Registries
Encyclopedia
The Council of European National Top-Level Domain Registries (CENTR) is an association of Internet
country code top-level domain registries
. Full CENTR membership is open to organisations, corporate bodies or individuals that operate a country code top level domain registry.
The project that became CENTR was formed in March 1998 through the RIPE
Top-level Domain Working Group and was informally funded by participant registries through. In 1999, it was legally established as a not-for-profit company in the UK, limited by guarantee. At the end of 2006 CENTR vzw/asbl was established as an not-for-profit organisation under Belgian
law. CENTR's activities are funded by membership fees, and performed by a secretariat based in Brussels
, Belgium.
The organisation has a Europe
an focus, but there are no geographical restrictions to CENTR Members. In addition to more than forty of the countries in the region, CENTR has members the country-code registries from a number of countries outside of Europe (such as Iran, Japan, New Zealand and Canada). CENTR welcomes the application from all country-code managers. CENTR has 47 Full Members, 8 Associate Members and granted Observer status to 8 organisations.
CENTR provides a forum to discuss matters of policy affecting ccTLD registries and acts as a channel of communication to Internet governing bodies and other organisations involved with the Internet. It promotes the interests of not-for-profit ccTLDs and lobbies on their behalf.
The rules and registration procedures of ccTLD registries vary considerably and CENTR aims to collect information on, and document the practices of ccTLD registries. It provides a focal point for enquiries on such matters and encourages amongst ccTLDs the provision of better service for users.
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 top-level domain registries
Domain name registry
A domain name registry is a database of all domain names registered in a top-level domain. A registry operator, also called a network information center , is the part of the Domain Name System of the Internet that keeps the database of domain names, and generates the zone files which convert...
. Full CENTR membership is open to organisations, corporate bodies or individuals that operate a country code top level domain registry.
The project that became CENTR was formed in March 1998 through the RIPE
RIPE
Réseaux IP Européens is a forum open to all parties with an interest in the technical development of the Internet. The RIPE community’s objective is to ensure that the administrative and technical coordination necessary to maintain and develop the Internet continues...
Top-level Domain Working Group and was informally funded by participant registries through. In 1999, it was legally established as a not-for-profit company in the UK, limited by guarantee. At the end of 2006 CENTR vzw/asbl was established as an not-for-profit organisation under Belgian
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...
law. CENTR's activities are funded by membership fees, and performed by a secretariat based in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
, Belgium.
The organisation has a Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an focus, but there are no geographical restrictions to CENTR Members. In addition to more than forty of the countries in the region, CENTR has members the country-code registries from a number of countries outside of Europe (such as Iran, Japan, New Zealand and Canada). CENTR welcomes the application from all country-code managers. CENTR has 47 Full Members, 8 Associate Members and granted Observer status to 8 organisations.
CENTR provides a forum to discuss matters of policy affecting ccTLD registries and acts as a channel of communication to Internet governing bodies and other organisations involved with the Internet. It promotes the interests of not-for-profit ccTLDs and lobbies on their behalf.
The rules and registration procedures of ccTLD registries vary considerably and CENTR aims to collect information on, and document the practices of ccTLD registries. It provides a focal point for enquiries on such matters and encourages amongst ccTLDs the provision of better service for users.