Acceptable domain names and policy

NIC is the delegated authority for registering domain names in the .bi top-level domains. The domain name space is served on a first in first out basis. NIC has a rather liberal policy about domain names as soon as the domain name is in relation with the business name or one of its marks. The general principle is that a domain must reflect the truth.

The foreign entities are not obliged to keep a DNS or an administrative contact in the country. Except those qualified by NIC as restricted or undesirable, any domain name related to the business may be assigned to these entities.

A restricted domain is one of these : gov net edu ac com co int mil gouv or any other name related to government or public company use. Contact domain@nic.bi if you want to create such a domain. Note however that it will be assigned only if sponsored by an official authority. We also discourage generic names such as bank nom art ... or a geographic notion as it also misleads people.

An undesirable name is defined as being vulgar, misleading people or being rejected by NIC at its own discretion. It is also applicable for domain registration of wellknown brands/trademarks registered by third parties without the consent of the owner of the brands/trademark. The domain will be deleted immediately at the owner's request.

We strongly discourage the use of suffixes of our country for misleading people. We remind that .bi stands for Republic of Burundi and for nothing else.

The domain name must have a minimum of three characters. Applications for one or two characters domain may be considered with prior arrangment with domain@nic.bi

There is no notion of property as far as a domain name is concerned. It is rather to be seen as a sub-delegation, and the sub-delegated entity is supposed to manage it in compliance with the RFC's and with the usual rules applicable to such a sub-delegation. For instance, domains should only be used for matters in connection with the sub-delegated entity's business. The name of the domain must correspond to the name of the business, or one of its marks.

NIC will do its best so that second-level domains are run in a fair way. NIC may delete a domain name without compensation, should the domain be run in an inappropriate manner or be restricted or undesirable. No auction or reselling of domain names will be accepted.

The invoicing is per e-mail only. NIC sends yearly invoices to the billing contact e-mail address at the anniversary date of the domain creation. There is no reminder sent afterwards. It is your responsability to maintain the record accurate so that the e-mailed invoice reaches the right person. An unpaid domain is deleted after two weeks and made available for new sub-delegation.

As rendered service for domain creation, NIC installs the requested domain in the database of the DNS server 193.xxx.xxx.xxx (dns.nic.bi) and the NS records will be pointed to the DNS servers you specify on the form. This is the only service rendered. It does not include a sale of the domain name as there is no notion of property on a domain. Future changes of pointers are free of charge (max 3 per year). NIC will do its best effort to keep this pointer, the delegation and the DNS running, but shall by no means bear any responsibility for an unvoluntary disruption of service as it sometimes may occur on the Internet.

Resellers are normally not eligible for rebates.

By using a registration form, the user agrees to comply with all the present and future policies of NIC.

1. INTRODUCTION. In this Service Agreement ("Agreement"), "we", "us" and "our" refer to CNI s.a., BI Top Level Domain Sponsoring Organization having its headquarters at 157 Chee P L Rwagasore, BP 2270 Bujumbura, Burundi, and "you" and "your" refer to any person for whom we maintain the .BI Domain name registration record ("Registrant").

This Agreement explains our obligations to you, and your obligations to us in relation to our .BI Domain registration service. If you have submitted an application for .BI Domain name registration services, any acceptance of your application and the performance of our services will occur at our offices in Bujumbura, Burundi.

If your .BI Domain name registration for a particular domain name previously were provided under arrangement with a previous registry, your continued registration of that domain name and the use of our .BI Domain name registration services constitutes your assent to the terms of this Agreement.

If you submitted an application for our .BI Domain name registration services, the Effective Date of this Agreement shall be the date of our acceptance of your application.
If you previously received .BI Domain name registration services from a previous registry, the Effective Date of this Agreement is September 1, 2002.

2. TERM. The term of this Agreement is from the Effective Date to the date on which CNI has no further obligation to render .BI Top Level Domain ("TLD") administration services under any agreement with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers(ICANN) or entity that has authority over this matter, or until earlier terminated pursuant to Section 18 hereof (the "Initial Term").

3. You are responsible for knowing and agree to abide by the requirements for naming structure, registration and database information specified in our published guidelines presently at: http://www.nic.bi/policy.asp which may be amended from time to time.

4. NAME SERVERS. You agree to maintain two operational name servers for the specified domain name. In addition, the two name servers should be on separate networks.

5. ZONE TRANSFERS. You or your Internet Service Provider authorizes us to perform .BI zone transfers through your servers. You or your Internet Service Provider are required to take all steps necessary to enable the listed hosts:

NS.NIC.BI 81.199.8.205
DNS.RIPE.NET 193.0.0.193
DNS.PRINCETON.EDU 128.112.129.15
SUNIC.SUNET.SE 192.36.125.2


do zone transfers.

6. ACCURATE INFORMATION. As further consideration for the CNI service(s), you agree to:

(i). provide certain current, complete and accurate information about you as required by the application process; and
(ii). maintain and update this information as needed to keep it current, complete and accurate. We rely on this information to send you important information and notices regarding your domain name registration.

We will not process the personal data that we collect from you in a way incompatible with the purposes required for domain registration. You represent and warrant that you have provided notice to, and obtained consent from, any third party individuals whose personal data you supply to us as part of our services with regard to:
(i) the purposes for which such third party's personal data has been collected,


(ii) the intended recipients or categories of recipients of the third party's personal data,


(iii) which parts of the third party's data are obligatory and which parts, if any, are voluntary; and


(iv) how the third party can access and, if necessary, rectify the data held about him. You further agree to provide such notice and obtain such consent with regard to any third party personal data you supply to us in the future. We are not responsible for any consequences resulting from your failure to provide notice or receive consent from such individuals nor for your providing outdated, incomplete or inaccurate information. Even if you intend to use our domain name registration services for the benefit of a third party, you will remain our registrant and you are responsible for complying with all terms and conditions of this Agreement.

Subject to the requirements by Burundi law, in order for us to comply with the current rules and policies for the domain name system, you hereby grant to CNI the right to disclose to third parties through an interactive publicly accessible registration database the registration information that you provide when registering a domain name, including: (i) the domain name(s) registered by you; (ii) your name and postal address; (iii) the name(s), postal address(es), e-mail address(es), voice telephone number and, where available, the fax number(s) of the technical and administrative contacts for your domain name(s); (iv) the Internet protocol numbers of the primary name server and secondary nameserver(s) for such domain name(s); (v) the corresponding names of those nameservers.

7. MODIFICATIONS TO AGREEMENT. Except as otherwise provided in this Agreement, you agree, during the term of this Agreement, that we may: (1) revise the terms and conditions of this Agreement; and/or (2) change any part of the services provided under this Agreement at any time. We will attempt to post any such modification on the BI Registry Web site at least thirty (30) calendar days before it becomes effective. Any such revision or change will be binding and effective upon the date specified. You agree to periodically review our Web sites, including the current version of this Agreement available on our Web sites, to be aware of any such revisions. If you do not agree with any revision to the Agreement, you may terminate this Agreement at any time by providing us with notice by e-mail to: registrar@nic.bi or post office mail addressed as follows,

CNI s.a.
157 chee P L Rwagasore
BP 2270 Bujumbura
Burundi.

Notice of your termination will be effective on receipt by us.

8. By continuing to use CNI services after any revision to this Agreement or change in service(s), you agree to abide by and be bound by any such revisions or changes. We are not bound by nor should you rely on any representation by (i) any agent, representative or employee of any third party that you may use to apply for our services; or in (ii) information posted on our Web site of a general informational nature. No customer service employee, contractor, agent or representative of CNI is authorized to alter or amend the terms and conditions of this Agreement.

9. DOMAIN NAME DISPUTES. If you registered a domain name through us, you agree to be bound by other third party domain name dispute policy that is incorporated herein and made a part of this Agreement by reference. The current version of the dispute policy may be found at: http://www.icann.org/udrp

Please take the time to familiarize yourself with that policy. At the present time, we do not have a separate domain name dispute resolution policy.

Further, you agree that in the event a domain name dispute arises with any third party, you will indemnify and hold us harmless pursuant to the terms and conditions set forth in this Agreement to the extent not prohibited by law. If you or we are notified that a complaint has been filed with a judicial or administrative body regarding your use of our domain name registration services, you agree not to make any changes to your domain name record without our prior approval. We may prevent changes to such domain name record until

(i) we are directed to do so by the judicial or administrative body, or


(ii) we receive notification by you and the other party contesting your registration and use of our domain name registration services that the dispute has been settled. Furthermore, you agree that if you are subject to litigation, arbitration or administrative proceeding regarding your registration and use of our domain name registration services, we may deposit control of your domain name record into the registry of the judicial, arbitration or administrative body by supplying a party with a registrar certificate from us. In the event such control is deposited with the judicial, arbitration or administrative body, you may not be able to either


(i) make changes to your domain name record, and/or


(ii) use your domain name during the pendancy of the dispute. We will abide by the outcome of the judicial, arbitration or administrative proceeding upon receipt of a final order or award.

10. AGENTS. You agree that, if your agent (e.g., an Internet Service Provider, employee, etc.) purchased our service(s) on your behalf, you are nonetheless bound as a principal by all terms and conditions herein. Your continued use of our services shall ratify any unauthorized actions of your agent. By acting on your behalf, your agent certifies that he or she is authorized to apply for our services on your behalf, that he or she is authorized to bind you to the terms and conditions of this Agreement and that he or she has apprised you of the terms and conditions of this Agreement. In addition, you are responsible for any errors made by your agent.

11. NOTICES AND ANNOUNCEMENTS. You authorize us to notify you, as our registrant, of information that we deem is of potential interest to you. Notices and announcements may include e-mails sent to the administrative and technical contacts, and other notices describing changes, upgrades, new products and services or other information pertaining to Internet security or to enhance your identity on the Internet and/or other relevant matters.

12. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY. You agree that our entire liability, and your exclusive remedy, with respect to any CNI service(s) provided under this Agreement and/or for any breach of this Agreement and assigns is solely limited to the amount of $100.00 USD. CNI, its employees, agents, contractors, officers, directors, shareholders, and affiliates, shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special or consequential damages resulting from the use or inability to use any of the CNIservices or for the cost of procurement of substitute services. Some states do not allow the exclusion or limitation of liability for consequential or incidental damages; in such states, our liability is limited to the extent permitted by law. We disclaim any and all loss or liability resulting from, but not limited to:

(1) loss or liability resulting from access delays or access interruptions;


(2) loss or liability resulting from data non-delivery or data mis-delivery;


(3) loss or liability resulting from acts of God;


(4) loss or liability resulting from errors, omissions, or misstatements in any and all information or service(s) provided under this Agreement;


(5) loss or liability that you may incur in connection with our processing of your application for our services, our processing of any authorized modification to your domain name record; or


(6) loss or liability as a result of the application of our dispute procedures described in Section 9, DOMAIN NAME DISPUTES.

13. INDEMNITY. To the extent not prohibited by law, you agree to release, indemnify, and hold CNI, and its contractors, agents, employees, officers, directors, shareholders, affiliates and assigns harmless from all liabilities, claims, damages, costs and expenses, including reasonable attorneys' fees and expenses, of third parties relating to or arising under this Agreement, the CNI services provided hereunder or your use of the CNI services, including without limitation infringement or dilution by you, or someone else using our service(s) from your computer, of any intellectual property or other proprietary right of any person or entity, or a violation of any of our operating rules or policies relating to the service(s) provided. When we are threatened with suit, or sued by a third party, we may seek written assurances from you concerning your promise to indemnify us; your failure to provide those assurances may be considered by us to be a material breach of this Agreement.

14. BREACH. You agree that your failure to abide by any provision of this Agreement, any CNI operating rule or policy, or your willful provision of inaccurate or unreliable information as part of the application process, or your failure to update your information to keep it current, complete or accurate, or your failure to respond for over fifteen (15) calendar days to inquiries from us regarding your domain name registration may be considered by us to be a material breach and that we may provide a written notice, describing the breach, to you. If within ten (10) calendar days of the date of such notice, you fail to provide evidence, which is reasonably satisfactory to us, that you have not breached your obligations under the Agreement, then we may delete the registration or reservation of your domain name and/or terminate the other CNI service(s) you are using without further notice. Any such breach by you shall not be deemed to be excused simply because we did not act earlier in response to that, or any other breach, by you.

15. NO GUARANTY. You agree that, by registration of your chosen domain name, such registration does not confer immunity from objection to either the registration or use of your domain name.

16. REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES. You agree and warrant that: (i) the information that you or your agent on your behalf provide to us during the application process to register your domain name or to apply for other CNIservice(s) is, to the best of your knowledge and belief, accurate and complete, and that any future changes to this information will be provided to us in a timely manner according to the modification procedures in place at that time, (ii) to the best of your knowledge and belief neither the registration of your domain name nor the manner in which you intend to use such domain name directly or indirectly infringes the legal rights of a third party, (iii) you have all requisite power and authority to execute this Agreement and to perform your obligations hereunder, and (iv) you are of legal age to enter into this Agreement. You agree that your use of our service(s) is solely at your own risk. You agree that all of our services are provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis.

17. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES. WE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. WE MAKE NO WARRANTY THAT OUR SERVICE(S) WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS, OR THAT THE SERVICE(S) WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE, OR ERROR FREE; NOR DO WE MAKE ANY WARRANTY AS TO THE RESULTS THAT MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE USE OF THE SERVICE(S) OR AS TO THE ACCURACY OR RELIABILITY OF ANY INFORMATION OBTAINED THROUGH OUR .BI DOMAIN NAME REGISTRATION SERVICE.

18. TERMINATION. We may terminate this Agreement at any time for any reason by giving you 15 days prior notice. You agree that we may terminate this Agreement if the information that you are obligated to provide to register your domain name or register for other CNI service(s), or that you subsequently modify, contains false or misleading information, or conceals or omits any information we would consider material to our decision to register your domain name or to continue to provide you with domain name registration services. Furthermore, you agree that we may suspend, cancel or transfer your domain name registration services in order to: (i) correct mistakes made by us, a delegated domain manager, or the registry in registering your chosen domain name, (ii) resolve a dispute under Section 9, DOMAIN NAME DISPUTES, (iii) enforce the guidelines of the .BI Domain Registry, or (iv) in the event a successor .BI Domain Registry is chosen.

19. NO THIRD-PARTY BENEFICIARIES. This Agreement shall not be construed to create any obligation by CNI to any non-party to this Agreement.

20. RIGHT OF REFUSAL. We, in our sole discretion, reserve the right to refuse to register your chosen domain name. You agree that we shall not be liable to you for loss or damages that may result from our refusal to register your domain name.

21. SEVERABILITY. You agree that the terms of this Agreement are severable. If any term or provision is declared invalid or unenforceable, that term or provision will be construed consistent with applicable law as nearly as possible to reflect the original intentions of the parties, and the remaining terms and provisions will remain in full force and effect.

22. ENTIRETY. You agree that this Agreement, the domain name application, the rules and policies published by us, and the privacy statement is the complete and exclusive agreement between you and us regarding our services. This Agreement, our rules and policies, the dispute policy and the privacy statement supersede all prior agreements and understandings, whether established by custom, practice, policy or precedent.

23. GOVERNING LAW. To the extent not prohibited by law, you agree that this Agreement and any disputes hereunder shall be governed in all respects by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Republic of Burundi, excluding its conflict of laws rules. Except for disputes concerning or arising from your use of a domain name registered with us, you and we each submit to exclusive subject matter jurisdiction, and personal jurisdiction.

24. AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND. By applying for and registering a domain name as part of our application process or by using the service(s) provided by CNI under this Agreement, you acknowledge that you have read and agree to be bound by all terms and conditions of this Agreement and any pertinent rules or policies that are or may be published by CNI.

Terms and Conditions

THE .BI DOMAIN REGISTRATION PROCEDURES



Registrations are by delegation, where a domain name within a sub domain category of the BI Domain TLD is delegated to an organization or individual running name servers that support that name.

All organizations, government and non-government agencies; primary, secondary and tertiary educational institutions; companies with a presence in Burundi; and all interested individuals and entities are encouraged to register under the BI Domain.

Registrations in other top-level domains such as COM, NET, and ORG are also possible; please refer to the ICANN Web site at http://www.icann.org for directions.

Speedy registration is available online or you can e-mail an application form to the registrar@nic.bi

CNI has appointed CBINET s.a., its subsidiary providing internet services, to carry out registrations for the BI Domain. Other registrars will also be appointed soon.

GENERAL POLICIES ON DOMAIN NAME DELEGATION

Policy on delegation of sub-domains and acceptable domain names


The domain name space is served on a first in first out basis .BI Registry has a rather liberal policy about domain names as soon as the domain name is in relation with the business name or one of its marks. The general principle is that a domain must reflect the truth.

The foreign entities are not obliged to keep a DNS or an administrative contact in the country. Except those qualified by BI Registry as restricted or undesirable, any domain name related to the business may be assigned to these entities.

A restricted domain is one of these : gov net edu ac com co int mil gouv or any other name related to government or public company use. Contact registrar@nic.bi if you want to create such a domain. Note however that it will be assigned only if sponsored by an official authority. We also discourage registration of second level domains for generic names such as bank, name,nom, art ... or a geographic notion as it also misleads people.

An undesirable name is defined as being vulgar, misleading people or being rejected by BI Registry at its own discretion. It is also applicable for domain registration of wellknown brands/trademarks registered by third parties without the consent of the owner of the brands/trademark. The domain will be deleted immediately at the owner's request.

We strongly discourage the use of suffixes of our country for misleading people. We remind that .bi stands for Republic of Burundi and for nothing else.

The domain name must have a minimum of three characters. Applications for one or two characters domain may be considered with prior arrangement with registrar@nic.bi

There is no notion of property as far as a domain name is concerned. It is rather to be seen as a sub-delegation, and the sub-delegated entity is supposed to manage it in compliance with the RFC's and with the usual rules applicable to such a sub-delegation. For instance, domains should only be used for matters in connection with the sub-delegated entity's business. The name of the domain must correspond to the name of the business, or one of its marks.

BI Registry will do its best so that second-level domains are run in a fair way. BI Registry may delete a domain name without compensation, should the domain be run in an inappropriate manner or be restricted or undesirable. No auction or reselling of domain names will be accepted.

Resellers are normally not eligible for rebates.

By using a registration form, the user agrees to comply with all the present and future policies of BI Registry.


Policy on the Number of Domains

At the moment there is no limit on the number of domains any one individual or organization can hold.

Policy on Misrepresentation of Information

In the unlikely event that the BI Domain Registry chooses to verify any or all of the information on a registration application and agreement, and if it is determined that the an application and agreement contains false or substantially misleading information that application may be delayed or revoked.

In addition, all other delegations made to the party submitting the false or misleading application and agreement may also be revoked even after delegation of domain name.

Delegation of Special Sub Domains Categories

Special sub domains outside the established structure of the BI Registry may be delegated on special request and will in all cases require a justifiable reason.



Schedule of fees :
New domain name 100 EURO for 2 years renewable
Renewal of domain name 50 EURO for one year
Modification of data Free if done online or via a properly filled domain name template submitted electronically to registrar@nic.bi
Deletion of domain name Free if done online or via a properly filled domain name template submitted electronically to registrar@nic.bi


APPLYING FOR NEW DOMAINS

Please read the Overview and Domain Agreement before filling out the registration forms.
We register domains. We do not assign IP addresses.
The application must be filled out completely in order for it to be processed.
The application is available online or via electronic mail request to registrar@nic.bi
When your application has been received, you will get a copy of the application and an automated reply. If you do not receive a reply you must resubmit the form or re apply using the online registration tool.
We provide some technical assistance related to the actual process of conforming to the requirements stated in this guidelines. Any support outside of this will carry a fee .
If you have any other questions, please contact us:
Physical Address :
157, Chee P L Rwagasore,

BP 2270 Bujumbura-Burundi

E-mail: registrar@nic.bi
Phone number: +257 21 9229
+257 22 5005
Fax number: +257 22 8764


Explanation of Fields in the Domain Name Application Template


1. REGISTRATION TYPE: NEW, MODIFICATION OR CHANGING NAME OF A REGISTERED DOMAIN NAME, OR DELETION

Registration Type Instructions:
NEW: Enter NEW if this application is for a .BI Domain name that has not been previously delegated to anyone. All e-mail applications should sent to: registrar@nic.bi

MODIFY or Change Name of a registered Domain Name: Enter MODIFY if you are one of the current contacts (administrative or technical) for a .BI domain that has already been delegated and this application is to alter or update contact or server information. Please note that only the current contacts registered in our files can submit a modification application.

DELETE: Enter DELETE if you are one of the current contacts (administrative or technical) for a .BI Domain that has already been delegated and this application is a request that you no longer be responsible for administering the domain. Please note that we need zone transfers and any contact information from you before we can take back the domain.

2. If the Domain is new select a Fully Qualified Domain Name to uniquely identify you

3. ORGANIZATION INFORMATION

Organization Information Instructions:
Enter the name of the entity or organization that is being represented by the domain name being requested. This should be the name of the organization that will be using the Fully-Qualified Domain Name in section two.

The organization information in section three needs to match the domain name. For example: BurundiOnline, and NOT the name of the Internet Service Provider (ISP) submitting the request.

4. DESCRIPTION OF ORGANIZATION/DOMAIN

Description of Organization/Domain Instructions:
Please describe in a sentence the intended use of the domain name being requested in section two. For example, "Bibi Samandari personal domain name", or "BurundiOnline Website ".

Add a sentence of description. For example, "Travel Business. This is a travel and tourism website."

5. ADMINISTRATIVE CONTACT OF ORGANIZATION/DOMAIN

Administrative Contact of Organization/Domain Instructions:
Enter the name of the person who will serve as the administrative contact. This person must be from the organization that will be using the domain name, not a person from the Internet Service Provider (ISP).

The administrator is the contact point for administrative and policy questions about the domain. The domain administrator should work closely with the personnel s/he has designated as the Technical Contact for the domain. That is, the Administrative Contact would be a person from the organization that is the ultimate user of the domain name, not a person from the organization running the nameserver.

Specifically, when the organization using the domain name is an organization, the Administrative Contact must be an employee, not an employee of the service provider arranging the Internet connection for the organization, or the individual contracted by the organization to provide web site services.

For every registration, we require complete information for the Administrative Contacts of the domain


(section 6).

This is for two reasons. First, to make sure that the different functions are served. Second, just as there are two name servers required, two contacts provide redundancy for a stable and reliable system. This safeguards the function of your delegated domain as well as the .BI Domain and the Internet as a whole.

The Administrative Contact should work closely with the personnel s/he has designated as the Technical Contact for the domain. That is, the Administrative Contact would be a person from the organization that is the ultimate user of the domain name, not a person from the organization running the nameserver.

Include the title, mailing address (with street address, not P.O. Box), phone number (daytime, with area code), organization, and currently operational electronic mailboxes. There must be a different email address for the administrative and technical contact.
All information must be filled out. Do not use "same" or "blank".

Note that the Administrative contact may not also be the technical contact unless the request is for a personal domain name or sole proprietorship businesses.

6. TECHNICAL CONTACT FOR DOMAIN
Technical Contact for Domain Instructions:
Enter the name of the technical contact for the domain.
The technical contact handles the technical aspects of maintaining the domain's name server and resolver software, and database files. S/he keeps the name server running. More than likely, this person would be the technical contact running the primary nameserver. "There must be a knowledgeable and competent technical contact, familiar with the Internet DNS."

The Technical Contact must have a good understanding of the Domain Name System and the Internet. The Technical Contact is also responsible for a thorough understanding of the BI Domain structure, policies and procedures.

The REGISTRATION MAILBOX (7j) is where domain name requests received by the BI Domain Administrator will be forwarded to the delegated domain manager (the person specified here). Typical mailboxes names are: hostmaster, support, or domreg, at your organization.

For every registration, we require complete contact information for Technical Contacts of the domain


(section 7). Include the title, mailing address (with street address, not P.O. Box), phone number (daytime, with area code), organization, and currently operational electronic mailboxes. There must be a different email address for the administrative and technical contact.

This is for two reasons. First, to make sure that the different functions are served. Second, just as there are two name servers required, two contacts provides redundancy for a stable and reliable system. This safeguards the function of your delegated domain as well as the .BI Domain and the Internet as a whole.

All information must be filled out. Do not use "same" or "blank".
Note that the technical contact must differ from the Administrative contact unless the request is for a personal domain name or sole proprietorship.

7. PRIMARY SERVER INFORMATION
Primary Server Information Instructions:
Enter the complete host name and corresponding IP address of the primary name server.
The complete host name of the primary server as well as the IP address are required. They must match.

Applications will not be accepted without this information. The server must be up and running before submitting an application.

Please check that:

Server domain names are spelled correctly and that they are complete domain names,

That the IP addresses correspond correctly with the server names (e.g., do not switch primary and secondary IP addresses)

That a nameserver is running on the specified machines and available to answer queries (zone transfer access must be made available to 81.199.8.205 and 193.121.193.238).
Following are some guidelines regarding servers used to host the domain name:

Domains must provide at least two independent servers that provide the domain service for translating names to addresses for hosts in this domain. Establishing the servers in physically separate locations and on different physically separate networks is strongly recommended, and is required for third-level domains.
If you are applying for a domain and a network number assignment simultaneously and a host on your proposed network will be used as a server for the domain, you must wait until you receive your network number assigment and have given the server(s) a net-address before sending in the domain application.
To apply for an IP address, contact your service provider or if you are a service provider contact of the IP number registries.
The BI Domain Registry only registers BI Domain names.
It is your responsibility to see that an IN-ADDR pointer record is entered in the DNS database. Contact the administrator of the IP network your host is on to have this done.

8. SECONDARY SERVER INFORMATION

Secondary Server Information Instructions:
Enter the complete host name and corresponding IP address of the secondary name server.

The complete host name of the secondary server as well as the correct IP address are required. They must match.

Applications will not be accepted without this information. The server must be up and running before submitting an application.

Please check that:

Server domain names are spelled correctly and that they are complete domain names,

That the IP addresses correspond correctly with the server names (i.e., do not switch primary and secondary IP addresses), and

That a nameserver is running on the specified machines and available to answer queries (zone transfer access must be allowed to 81.199.8.205 and 193.0.0.193).
Following are some guidelines regarding servers used to host the domain name:

Domains must provide at least two independent servers that provide the domain service for translating names to addresses for hosts in this domain. Establishing the servers in physically separate locations and on different physically separate networks is strongly recommended, and is required for third-level domains.
If you are applying for a domain and a network number assignment simultaneously and a host on your proposed network will be used as a server for the domain, you must wait until you receive your network number assigment and have given the server(s) a net-address before sending in the domain application.

To apply for an IP address, contact your service provider or if you are a service provider contact ARIN at any of the IP numbers registries.
The BI Domain Registry only registers BI Domain names.
It is your responsibility to see that an IN-ADDR pointer record is entered in the DNS database. Contact the administrator of the IP network your host is on to have this done.

9. TERTIARY SERVER INFORMATION

Tertiary Server Information Instructions:
A third name server is optional.
Enter the complete host name and corresponding IP address of the third name server.
The complete host name of the third server as well as the correct IP address are required. They must match.

Applications may be accepted without this information. The server must be up and running before submitting an application.

Please check that
Server domain names are spelled correctly and that they are complete domain names,

That the IP addresses correspond correctly with the server names (i.e., do not switch primary and secondary IP addresses), and

That a name server is running on the specified machines and available to answer queries (zone transfer access must be allowed to 194.78.100.205 and 193.121.193.238).
Following are some guidelines regarding servers used to host the domain name:

Domains must provide at least two independent servers that provide the domain service for translating names to addresses for hosts in this domain. Establishing the servers in physically separate locations and on different physically separate networks is strongly recommended, and is required for third-level domains.
o If you are applying for a domain and a network number assignment simultaneously and a host on your proposed network will be used as a server for the domain, you must wait until you receive your network number assignment and have given the server(s) a net-address before sending in the domain application.
o To apply for an IP address, contact your service provider or if you are a service provider contact any of the IP numbers registries.
The BI Domain Registry only registers BI Domain names.
It is your responsibility to see that an IN-ADDR pointer record is entered in the DNS database. Contact the administrator of the IP network your host is on to have this done

MODIFYING OR TRANSFERING OF EXISTING DOMAIN(s)

If the person requesting the modification is not listed in our contacts or has no authorization password, then we must have an email confirmation from our listed contacts authorizing the person to make these changes.

To find out the contacts for a particular domain, see our whois database.The application for modification is available at online.
If you sending an e-mail request for modification, on the application please specify "modify" in response to Q1 and the domain name that needs to be modified in response to Q2.
We must be notified of any changes in the names of the servers.
If the names of the servers remain the same but the IP addresses change you need only notify us in the case that the server is in the subdomain served (technically this is called a "glue record").
We do not provide FREE technical support for modifications.

The WHOIS database is not updated immediately..

The WHOIS information for other Top Level Domains is available from their respective registries. Please use tools such as "dig" or "nslookup" for server information about these domains.

The rules for transfer of the domain is same as that of modification.

WHOIS

The InterNIC has developed the RWHOIS program which supports distributed databases of WHOIS information. This allows for the reduction of queries and referral of information to be closer to the maintainer of the information.
The BI Domain Registry has installed a client/server RWHOIS protocol to support the BI Domain WHOIS information. For more information contact registrar@nic.bi. The data from the information you supplied on your application will be used for your WHOIS entry.

Click Here to enter WHOIS Database (Whois/index.html protocol Not yet available)

WHOIS DATABASE : http://whois.nic.bi/register

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQs)

Who can get a BI domain name?


How much does it cost?


How do I get a BI domain name?


What is a name server? And where do I get an IP address?


Can I use the same name for my administrative and technical contact? (Yes )


How do I make a modification to my name servers? How can I delete my responsibility for the domain name?


How long does it take


You said my domain was registered. Why can't I see it using WHOIS?


Can you help me solve some technical DNS problems


Where do I go for more help? Can I call you?

Who can get a BI Domain name?

Anyone can register a BI Domain name. There is no restriction whatsoever.

How much does it cost?

New domain name 100 EUROS for 2 years renewable
Renewal of domain name 50 EUROS for one year
Modification of Data Free if done on-line or via filled properly filled Domain Name Template submitted electronically to registrar@nic.bi.
Deletion of Domain Name Free if done on-line or via filled properly filled Domain Name Template submitted electronically to registrar@nic.bi.


How do I get a BI Domain name?

You can apply to your Internet Service Provider (ISP) or directly to us. Fill-in and submit the application form available on this Web site. Be sure to read all instructions carefully. For e-mail application, please do NOT alter the application and be sure to fill it in completely and correctly.

o Make sure that the name you are requesting follows the naming structure ("www" should not be entered as part of the domain name).

o Choose or Indicate "New" as the registration type in the application.

o Use a NIC handle if you have one

o Fill in all other lines and do not abbreviate or use words like "same as above."

o For e-mail application, Put "Request for new domain: the Fully Qualified Doman Name - FQDN" in the subject field.

o Follow the steps as indicated on the template or submit the application via email to registrar@nic.bi.

o Be sure your name servers are prepared BEFORE you submit the application.

Applications are handled automatically and it is important to follow these instructions exactly.
Every error delays your application.

What is a name server? And where do I get an IP address?

A nameserver (also called a host) is a computer that has the software and data files needed to resolve domain names to IP addresses. Your technical contact or Internet Service Provider (ISP) can explain in greater detail.

Can I use the same name for my administrative and technical contact?

Usuallly not(unless it is a personal domain name). We need two different names for the administrative and technical contacts. The administrative contact is responsible for managing the domain name; the technical contact is responsible for making it work.

How do I make a modification to my name servers? How can I delete my responsibility for the domain name?

The current administrative or technical contact must submit a modification (or deletion) application completing all fields. If you are the new ISP for a domain name, you cannot make the modifications; you must ask one of the current contacts to submit a modification.
A prerequisite to modifications and deletions are that you must allow us to access your servers for a zone transfer (not necessary for personal domain names)


1. Always put "MODIFY my-domain.subdomain category.bi" or "DELETE my-domain.subdomain-category.bi" in the subject field.


2. Choose or Designate it as "Modify" or "Delete".

How long does it take?

Usually 24 hours..
Incorrect, missing or inconsistent information will inevitably lead to delays.

You said my domain was registered. Why can't I see it using WHOIS?

WHOIS and RWHOIS are not the same as the Domain Name Systems (DNS). RWHOIS is an ancillary service created for internal use. It is not guaranteed and it is not necessary for your domain name to be functioning.

Can you help me solve some technical DNS problems?

At time yes, however be informed that the BI Domain Registry delegates .BI Domain names. If we have to get involved in resolving your DNS problems we may charge fee for that service. You are advised to have a technical contact who understands the DNS and technical issues about the Internet.

Should we be required to set-up your email service, Web hosting, IP address allocation, etc, these will have to be negotiated for separately.

See the "DNS and BIND" book by Paul Albitz and Cricket Liu (O'Reilly Books) for more information on the Domain Name System. Also see the Technical Bibliography on this Web site.

Where do I go for more help? Can I call you?

Please see the rest of this Web site for complete information on the overall naming structure of the BI Domain, instructions on obtaining, modifying, or deleting a domain name, the application used in these actions, and rules and regulations on the BI Domain name space.

You can also call our Help Desk for clarification on how to complete the process of getting your domain. Services beyond the actual process of getting your domain up and running may be negotiated and charged for separately.