.be is the
Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, p ...
country code
Country codes are short alphabetic or numeric geographical
Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science ...
top-level domain
A top-level domain (TLD) is one of the domains at the highest level in the hierarchical Domain Name System
The Domain Name System (DNS) is a hierarchical and distributed naming system for computers, services, and other resources in the ...
(
ccTLD
A country code top-level domain (ccTLD) is an Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It ...
) for
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_captio ...
. As of November 2022 there are 1,746,459 registered domains.
History
The domain became active in 1989 and was administrated by
Pierre Verbaeten of the
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. In 2000, the control of the TLD was transferred to
DNS Belgium.
It was announced in November 2005 that the initial registration of domains would be free until the beginning of 2006, though with some limits on the number any individual was allowed to register. This was remarkably popular, with some 17,000 registrations coming in on the first day of the promotion.
Domain names are registered directly at second level.
BELNET, the federal internet provider for scientific institutions, manages the
.ac.be subdomain reserved for academic entities, with a policy of allowing only one active .ac.be domain per institution. Because of this, most universities abandoned their .ac.be SLD as primary domain. This is why ''ucl.ac.be'' shifted to ''uclouvain.be'', ''fundp.ac.be'' to ''unamur.be'', ''ulg.ac.be'' to ''uliege.be'' or ''fusl.ac.be'' to ''usaintlouis.be'' when changing names. The
University of Mons-Hainaut, by merging with the
Faculté polytechnique de Mons (''fpms.ac.be'') into a new legal entity called the
University of Mons, could change its domain from ''umh.ac.be'' to ''umons.ac.be''.
Any .be registration has to be ordered via a registered agent.
The domain has also been in use as a logo for the federal government since 2003.
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
also uses the
domain hack
A domain hack is a domain name
A domain name is a string that identifies a realm of administrative autonomy, authority or control within the Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer netwo ...
youtu.be for their
URL shortening
URL shortening is a technique on the World Wide Web
The World Wide Web (WWW), commonly known as the Web, is an information system enabling documents and other web resources to be accessed over the Internet
The Internet ...
service.
Regional domains
The Flemish separatist party
Vlaams Belang introduced a draft resolution in the
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. ...
of the region of
Flanders
Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordere ...
demanding the creation of a Flemish top level domain .vl (for , Flanders in
Flemish
Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language
Dutch ( ) is a West Germanic language spoken by about 25 million people as a first language and 5 million as a second language. It is the third most widely ...
).
Vlaams Belang wil ‘B’ vervangen door ‘VL’ op autonummerplaten, landspostcode, internetextentie en burgerluchtvaartuigen
/ref> However, this resolution failed to receive support of the region's other parties. Only recognized UN member states are eligible for a two-letter domain extension.
References
External links
IANA .be whois information
List of .be registered agents
{{DEFAULTSORT:Be
Internet in Belgium
Mass media in Belgium
Country code top-level domains
Council of European National Top Level Domain Registries members
Computer-related introductions in 1988
sv:Toppdomän#B