Domain Registration Related News
Iraq Internet presence in Limbo
June 2004
While the Americans might be turning over
rulership to an interim government in Iraq, it
will be some time before the country gets its
domain name back. This time it is not because of
any attempts at US control, the .iq owners are
facing a criminal indictment and can't pass the
Internet suffix on.
According to a report from AP, the problem started
in 1997, when Saddam Hussein's dictatorship was
blocking access to the Internet.
An ICANN body granted responsibility for the ".iq"
domain to InfoCom a Texas-based company and
purveyor of computers and Web services in the
Middle East.
In 2002, a grand jury indicted InfoCom, and its
owners on charges that they exported computer
equipment to Libya and Syria and funneled money to
a member of the Islamic extremist group Hamas.
Meanwhile the new government, national
institutions or regular Iraqis are having to
register themselves as ".com," ".org" or ".net".
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