Freedom is nothing but a chance to be better

In November 2002, the “Stiftelsen för Internetinfrastruktur” (IIS), in charge of administrating the Swedish top-level domain (TLD), adopted a new set of regulations for its domain name registration process. Following their implementation by the Swedish Network Information Center (NIC-SE), these regulations have been in force since April 1, 2003. Practically abandoning the old system’s rigid restrictions and regimentation, the new regime represents a radical shift from the former rules, as it is based solely on the principle of “first come, first served”, foregoes any kind of pre-screening process and for the first time opens the Swedish TLD to registrations from applicants located outside of Sweden.

In this context, it should be noted that .se is part of a significant number of country code TLDs (ccTLDs) currently undergoing or having recently completed a liberalisation of their registration policies. This trend is even more interesting in light of the fact that stricter regimentation is often demanded as a means to decrease the number of domain name conflicts arising under such unrestricted registration regimes as those of .com or .de. Starting with a depiction of the strict registration requirements which governed the .se TLD up to April 2003 and which – in varied forms – are still being maintained by numerous ccTLDs, this article will proceed to show the results of such a restrictive registration policy. It will then outline the Swedish reform process, before detailing the new regulations in force since April 1, 2003. In conclusion, a final evaluation of the trend towards liberalisation will be rendered.