The public is being given an opportunity to have a say on a new policy to allow the private sale of .ie domains. Interested parties will be able to provide feedback until 16 August.

The policy, known as the “secondary market”, has arisen from an increased demand for .ie domains, and a need to protect the public from unauthorised .ie domain sellers.

Under the proposed policy, an owner of a .ie domain will be able to sell it on to a private buyer, via their original Registrar, providing the buyer meets the .ie domain ownership criteria—namely, having a provable connection to Ireland.

The private sale of national domains is already permitted in many other countries, including the United Kingdom, Germany and Australia. The precise mechanism of the .ie domain sale process will be announced following completion of the consultation.

Commenting on the policy, David Curtin, Chief Executive of IEDR, said:

“.ie is an ‘Identifiably Irish’ domain associated with authenticity, trust and reliability. By creating a regulated secondary market, we are providing increased access to a respected and valued domain while protecting consumers from rogue traders.

“Following careful consideration by key .ie namespace stakeholders and IEDR’s Policy Advisory Committee (PAC), we are now asking the public to take part in our open 30-day consultation and provide feedback on the proposed secondary market policy.”