Domain Name assignment rules in Israel

April 1996

• Kindergartens, elementary schools, and high schools are to register under k12.il
• Non-profit organizations such as amutot and malkarim are to register under org.il
• Academic institutions of higher education (with Malkar status) are to register under ac.il
• Governmental organizations are to register under gov.il
• Commercial organizations are to register under co.il
• Internet Service Providers are allowed to register under net.il
• No other domain groupings will be opened
• Domain names are not allowed to contain obscene words, example: shit.co.il
• Domain names are not allowed to allowed to infringe on existing domains:
  Example: besek.co.il would infringe on bezek.co.il. This is done on a best effort basis.
• Domain names may not contain the following reserved words:
  • www
  • internet
  Example: internet.co.il would not be allowed. inter-net.co.il would be allowed
• Domain names may not use well known geographic areas unless they represent an official muncipality, i.e. israel.co.il or telaviv.co.il
• Domain names may be generic in nature. Example: nadlan.co.il, shuk.co.il
• Only Internet Service Providers with a valid operating license from the Ministry of Communication may register under the net.il domain
• Domain names are not the property of Internet Service Providers that provide the registration services of their company. Domain names are never owned by ISPs - other than those names that are registered to run their company.
• Domain names are portable from ISP to ISP.
• No one company may register more than 10 domains on behalf of their company
• Domain names are non-transferrable once registered to a company unless said company is bought out or merges with another company. If a company goes bankrupt, the domain names owned by that company are deallocated.
• Domain registrations must be related to the business or activities of the company requesting the domain. Requests by individuals or companies to register domains in the attempt to sell them later to other companies will result in all domains owned by said company to be revoked immediately.

The current ruleset is managed by Simon Shikman and an appeals committee exists of:

• Hank Nussbacher - Machba
• Georges Meyer - Israeli Electric Company
• Linda Perlmutter - Ministry of Communication
• Izzy Ben Nun - Ministry of Communciation
• Simon Shikman - Hebrew University

This ruleset is being handed over to the Internet Society of Israel for modification and formalization.