The Post and Telecom Agency of Sweden (PTS) has made it illegal for entities to register a .se (Sweden ccTLD) domain name containing the word ‘bank’. Only actual banks operating within Sweden will be allowed to utilize domains with the word ‘bank’ in them. As of now this ban is only an order by way of declaration of the PTS to the .se domain. The question is what happens to those entities that choose to register one of these banned ‘bank’ domain names? Also, what happens to these banned domains that already are registered and owned by entities that are not banks? This has yet to be determined. The PTS have implemented this rule as a way of protecting the word, and therefore the use of it as a website, as a way to cut malicious activity.
I say this is ridiculous. There are plenty of legitimate reasons for a website owner to use the word ‘bank’ in its country’s ccTLD. This seems like a decision that wasn’t fully thought out by the Post and Telecom Agency of Sweden and could open a can of worms for the .se domain if this new rule is actually adhered to. Other industries will want to criminalize registering domains with keywords in their respective industries. I actually don’t see this happening, nevertheless its certainly something to watch. I will be monitoring any news of cases or domains that come abreast on this topic in the .se ccTLD.
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