Dutch won’t be allowed to run .bv

About two years ago we reported that the Dutch registry might be allowed to run the .bv domain name extension. This actually is the country code of the Bouvet Island,  but since this is a completely inhabited island, the domain name extension has never been taken into active use. With Bouvet Island being a dependency of Norway, the Norwegian registry NORID is responsible for the .bv extension. Because there is no local market for .bv, they had been negotiating with the Dutch registry SIDN about handing over .bv management to them. “BV” in Dutch is the same as for example “Ltd” in English or “GmbH” in German.

Talks had been going on for almost two years now, but the Norwegian government has put a stop to this. NORID needed to request an exception to the domain name registration rules as imposed by the government. Specifically the allocation rules, only allowing registrations to Norwegian companies and Norwegian citizens, would need to be lifted in order to be able to sell .bv domain names to Dutch companies. This exception has not been granted. Norway decided that they didn’t need the cash that this could generate.