Changes to the Canadian Domain Name System: Who Controls Your Domain in Canada?*

One of the most significant developments in electronic commerce in Canada in 2000 related to Canada’s Internet domain name registration system. A new not-for-profit corporation, Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA), was established to operate Canada’s .ca domain name registry. The new CIRA system liberalizes the availability of .ca domain name registrations but will, through "Canadian Presence Requirements" (CPR), maintain a Canadian connection to .ca domain names. The main features of the new CIRA system are:

• Existing .ca registrations may be transitioned to the new CIRA system until (at the time of writing) 30 days after the Operational Transfer Date (OTD) on which CIRA starts to operate the new registry, at the time of writing expected to occur on November 1, 2000.