General

What is a Registry and what are its functions?

A Registry is a body that is responsible for assigning domain names and for managing domains and the relative technical infrastructure needed, under a particular extension (.it, .eu, .com, etc.). The rules of the network are fixed by an international organization, Icann freccia (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), which is also responsible for appointing certain bodies to carry out the functions of a Registry (technically, a Registry is 'delegated' by ICANN) for managing various extensions (.it, .fr, .com, etc).  In 1987, ICANN appointed the Italian National Research Council (CNR) to manage .it domains. This is how the it. Registry was founded, which has its offices at the Institute of Informatics and Telematics of the CNR in Pisa.

What is the DBAN?

The DBAN (Database of Assigned Names) is the electronic archive that is managed and continually updated by the .it Registry, where all data regarding assigned .it domain names are kept.

What is the DNS?

DNS (Domain Name System) is a system that is used to associate the numerical addresses needed to surf the web (which are long and difficult to remember) to a name, and vice versa. It is on this system that the web, email and other Internet services function (e.g. www.nic.it corresponds to the numerical address 192.12.12.28).

Who are the Dispute Resolving Services (PDRSs)?

The Providers of Dispute Resolving Services (PDRSs) are professional firms that manage procedures for reassigning domain names that are being disputed by one or more entities that claim right to them. The PDRSs are accredited by the .it Registry and must respond to certain criteria regarding equity and transparency. The procedures for accreditation are described in a dedicated document that can be downloaded directly from the Registry's site.

How many different Tlds are there?

TLDs are Top Level Domains and are divided into two groups:

  • ccTLD (country code Top Level Domain) referring to countries, nations and geographical areas such as .it, .de, .fr, .uk or .eu (e.g. registro.it).
  • gTLD (generic Top Level Domain) are generic, such as .net, .com. or .org. (e.g. fao.org)

For more details: http://www.icann.org/ freccia

Domain names

Can a Registrant carry on operations directly?

No, a Registrant must request the Registrar to do this.

Is it possible to change the Registrar and the Registrant at the same time?

Yes, and in this case, the old Registrant must notify the new Registrant regarding the Authinfo. The new Registrant must, in turn, notify the new Registrar regarding the change.

Can Registrant data be changed?

Yes by contacting the Registrar.

How can I cancel a domain name?

To cancel a domain, notify the Registrar.

Once a name has been registered is it possible to be protected against similar names being used?

Registering a domain name does not protect you against similar registrations. If you are damaged by the assignment of a domain to others, you can use the law to help your case, or you can set up a dispute procedure and activate one of the alternative means of resolving disputes (arbitration/reassignment) as set forth by the Regulations for assigning and managing .it domains.

When does a domain expire?

.it domain names have a duration of a year, which:

  • starts from the registration of the domain name;
  • or from the date of the last change (e.g. a domain name registered on 30 June 2013 for PAPERINO-REG and then transferred on 1 February 2014 to TOPOLINO-REG. expires on 1 February 2015).

The maintenance service of the domain name is tacitly renewed from year to year unless rescinded, the request for which must arrive at the Registry within 15 days following the annual expiry.

You are strongly advised to keep a close check on the duration of the contract you have established with your ISP.

How can I recover the Authinfo if I lose it?

To recover the Authinfo, make a request directly to the Registrar. If the Registrar cannot be found or will not provide it, a Registrant can contact the Registry.

What characters can be used in a domain name?

All the numbers (0-9), letters (a-z) (ASCII),  the hyphen (-)  an all the characters NON-ASCII which belong to the charset indicated in the “Technical Guideline”. A domain name cannot begin or end with a hyphen (-); and the first four characters cannot be the sequence "xn--", which is reserved for the IDN code of a domain name.

How many .it domain names can be registered?

There is no limit to the number of domain names that can be registered.

How much does it cost to maintain a domain?

A Registrant does not have to make any payment to the .it Registry for the maintenance of their domain. The annual fee is invoiced directly by the Registry to Registrar. The cost of maintaining each domain name invoiced to the Registrar is € 3,30 + VAT.

Are there cases where a .it domain can be assigned free of charge?

No. There are no registrations free of charge under .it.

Who can register a .it domain?

The registration of a domain name in the ccTLD .it is permitted only to persons who have citizenship, residence or a registered office in the countries of the European Economic Area (EEA), the Vatican City State, the Republic of San Marino, the Swiss Confederation and in the United Kingdom.

What is a domain name?

If the Internet is a big town, the domain names are the addresses of houses, shops, and offices. The domain names are nothing more than sequences of letters and/or numbers, combined by users in a fantasy, but so they can be easily stored. They too, like the real addresses, are unique and cannot be duplicated: a sequence of numbers will always correspond to just one domain name, and vice versa.

Can one check whether a .it domain has already been registered?

To check whether a .it domain has already been registered simply type in the relevant name with the .it extension into the WHOIS database (e.g. “pippo.it”, without “www”).

What is the Authinfo?

Authinfo is the code that is assigned when the registration is made and it identifies univocally the domain. Registrars must notify the Registrant about this code, which is indispensable for carrying out all operations.

How long can a domain name be?

The minimum length for .it domain names is 3 characters (e.g.: cnr.it).
The maximum length is 63 characters (e.g.: iit.cnr.it).

What data must be entered into the RegCode when a freelancer or sole proprietorship applies for registration of one or more domain names (Entity type 3)?

It should be noted that paragraph 3.1.1.2, page 20 of the Technical Guidelines (version 3.0 of 30 May 2022), headed Validation Steps for Domain Name Registration, states that   if EntityType <> 1, RegCode must have the format of the VAT number (11 numeric characters) or numeric tax code;

Example

Registration Form

(The Registrant’s data given below refer to one or more domain names registered by "Mario Bianchi" as a sole proprietorship or freelancer).

Sect. 1 - Registrant’s data

Registrant: "freelancer's first name last name or sole proprietorship name" (e.g., Mario Bianchi or Pippo of Mario Bianchi)

Address: "Full address" (e.g., Via Caspio, 9 00100 Rome-RM)

Country: "ISO3166-1 Code of the Country" (e.g., IT)

Nationality: "ISO3166-1 Code of the Nationality" (e.g., IT)

Phone: "Telephone number in international format" (e.g., +39.06776511)

Fax: "Fax number in international format" (not mandatory) (e.g., +39.06776512)

RegCode: "VAT number or numerical tax code" (e.g., 09558132581)

E-mail: "Registrant’s e-mail address" (e.g., mbianchi@pippo.it)

EntityType: Type of Registrant (e.g., 3 - sole proprietorships/freelancers)

Sect. 2 - Registration form for the domain name(s) pippo.it (in the event of multiple domains indicate the relevant names)

The applicant Mario Bianchi / Pippo of Mario Bianchi (first name last name of the freelancer or name of the sole proprietorship), registrant of the domain name(s) pippo.it (in the event of multiple domains, indicate the relevant names), hereinafter Registrant, with registered office in Via Caspio, 9 00100 Rome- IT (street/square, locality, zip code, province, country), telephone number +39.06776511 (indicate the telephone number of the Registrant in the international format), fax number +39. 06776512 (indicate the fax number of the Registrant in the international format), e-mail address mbianchi@pippo.it (indicate the Registrant’s e-mail address), VAT number or numerical tax code 09558132581 (indicate the Registrant’s tax code), legally represented by Mario Bianchi (first name and last name of the legal representative), tax code BNCMRA56A01H501A (tax code of the legal representative), requests the registration of the domain name(s) (in the event of multiple domains, indicate the relevant names) pippo.it, through the Registrar (XYZ-REG), taking the responsibilities arising from the use and management of the domain name(s), and undertaking to promptly notify the Registrar or, alternatively, the Registro, of any changes in its data in the manner indicated in the ccTLD.it Assignment Regulations and Guidelines (https://www.nic.it).

Contract

What is the Bulk Transfer procedure?

It is the transfer of a significant number of domains between two Registrars. The operation does not involve the Transfer of contract and keeps the Registrar transferor active. The Bulk Transfer allows the transfer of up to 500 domain names at the fixed cost of 250 euros + VAT. Each extra domain name to be transferred is charged to the Registrar at the rate of €0.50 + VAT.

NB: if the domains are fewer than the maximum foreseen (that is fewer than 500), the cost of the operation remains unchanged.

What are the bank details for bank transfer?

Bank transfers have to be made out to the C.N.R.:

  • c/c 218150 made out to the CNR "Incassi giornalieri da altre dipendenze" specify the reason for payment, for instance, "provider/maintainer contract startup",
  • "payment of invoice No. X dated DD/MM/YYYY"),

bank name:

Banca Nazionale del Lavoro, branch of Rome,
branch no 6392,
ABI 01005,
CAB 03392,
CIN "s",
IBAN code: IT75N0100503392000000218150.
SWIFT/BIC code BNLIITRR

Notice: Payment reason must always be specified.

Who can enter into a contract with the Registry?

Those entities that wish to be Registrars for third parties or for themselves can have a contract with the Registry only if they have a VAT number. A private individual only in possession of a tax code cannot have a contract with the Registry. A contract can, however, be stipulated with a public body.

Is it possible to send the contract into another language?

No. All forms must be sent in Italian:  English translations are available on the website of the Registry only for a better understanding of the text.

Do foreign Registrars have to pay VAT?

No, foreign Registrars do not have to pay VAT.

edu.it

What is SLD?

This is a label that uniquely identifies the second level in the Internet domain name tree under one of the TLDs.

Who can register a domain name edu.it?

Italian schools of all types and levels, public and scuola paritaria (officially accredited by the Italian state).

How many domain names edu.it can be registered?

There are no limitations to the number of registrable domain names.

How long can a edu.it domain name be?

A domain registered directly under the SLD edu.it can be composed of a minimum of 3 characters up to a maximum of 63 for each part of a domain name for a total maximum length of 255 characters.

Are domain names edu.it subject to Drop Time?

No, in case of cancellation of a domain name, after 30 days in the status of pendingDelete/redemptionPeriod, the edu.it domain names passes into the status of pendingDelete pendingDelete and, the next day, is permanently deleted from the Registry .it database.

Where can I find forms to open an opposition for a domain name edu.it?

The forms to be used for edu.it domain names are the same as those used for .it domain names found in the "Forms&docs" section.

Can an edu.it domain name dispute be resolved by an alternative dispute resolution procedure (reallocation, arbitration)?

No - to resolve a dispute relating to a edu.it domain name it is necessary to resort to the ordinary judiciary.

What is the cost of registering an edu.it domain name?

From 20 September 2018 to 19 September 2019 the .it Registry will NOT charge the Registrar for the cost of registering domain names edu.it. From 20 September 2019 onwards, the registration fee will be the same as for .it domain names.

gov.it

Who can register a gov.it domain name?

The registration of a domain name in the SLD gov.it is allowed only to the Central State Public Administrations and to the National Social Security and Welfare Institutions, indicated in the list of public administrations identified pursuant to Article 1, paragraph 3, of Law no. 196 of 31 December 2009 and subsequent amendments. This list (List S13) is managed by ISTAT and published annually in the Official Gazette.

The request for the assignment of a domain name in the SLD gov.it can only be submitted by the Public Administrations present in the aforementioned list and registered in the Index of Public Administrations (IPA) managed by AgID.

The request for the assignment of a domain name in the SLD gov.it, according to AgID Determination n. 130/2022, is allowed also to the following Italian Public Administrations (if registered in the IPA database):

  • ACI
  • Agenzia per la Cybersicurezza Nazionale
  • Arma dei Carabinieri
  • Avvocatura Generale dello Stato
  • Commissari Straordinari nominati con provvedimento della PCM
  • Enti Previdenziali
  • Guardia di Finanza
  • Scuola Nazionale dell’Amministrazione.

How many gov.it domain names can be registered?

There are no limitations to the number of domain names that can be registered.

How log ca a gov.it domain name be?

A domain directly registered under the gov.it SLD can be composed of a minimum of 3 characters up to a maximum of 63 for each part of the domain name, and its total length cannot exceed 255 characters.

Are gov.it domain names subject to Drop Time?

No, they are not. In the event that domain names are deleted, they are given the pendingDelete/redemptionPeriod status. After that, they are given the pendingDelete/pendingDelete status and, finally, the following day they are permanently deleted from Registro .it database.

For disputes concerning gov.it domain names, is it possible to resort to alternative dispute resolution (e.g. reassignment, arbitration)?

No, it is not possible. In order to settle a dispute concerning a gov.it domain name, you will need to resort to ordinary courts.

 

What is the registration cost for a gov.it domain name?

No fee will be applied for the registration of domain names in the SLD gov.it for one year as of the date of commencement of the service, namely from the 7 July 2022 to 7 July 2023 Starting from the second year, the unitary rate provided for the registration of domain names in the ccTLD.it and in the SLD edu.it will be applied.

What am I supposed to do if my validationCode expires?

You will have to carry out the validation procedure again 

I lost my validationCode. What should I do?

You will have to carry out the validation procedure again 

The Public Administration that was given a domain name changed its name/IPA code/UO code. How can I change the data?

To change the data, the first thing to do is to carry out the validation procedure again (insert link to the procedure), and send the new validationCode as well as updated data to the refence Registrar, who will deal with the changes needed.