🚀 go-pugleaf

Starting on January 3, 1996, the Internet Name Provider (INP) service 
within SWITCH will charge for every secondlevel domain name registration 
below toplevel domains CH and LI. Initial fee for registration is CHF 160.- 
per name, recurring fees for lease of secondlevel domain names are CHF 96.- 
per annum and per name. The first year is charged depending on the 
date of the application and this fee is added to the initial fee.

INP services have been free of charge until the end of 1995 and were 
performed voluntarily by SWITCH personnel since 1987. However, the workload 
for administration of secondlevel domain names has increased dramatically 
over the last months. This is the main reason for charging for registration 
and modification of domain names. Domain name registration service is also 
not free of charge in several other countries (e.g. US, UK, Germany, etc.).

Financially, the organizational form of the INP service is non-profit based. 
A fund is raised to cover anticipated expenditures for lawyers, experts, 
additional work etc. This fund will also serve as financial feedback 
regarding fees: when the fund exceeds a certain amount, fees are 
to be reduced.

Domain name policy has been changed and is held very liberal. A registrant 
can be a person, organization, company, corporation, or other group 
attempting to organize under a common name and publish that name as Internet 
Domain Name. 

INP service for toplevel domains CH and LI is still performed by members of 
SWITCH staff but kept independent otherwise. The goals for INP services are 
to provide an efficient, flexible, stable and low cost service to the 
Internet community in Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

A call for discussion period starts December 4, 1995 and terminates with the 
introduction of the new policy in Januray 1996. Details can be found on URL 
http://www.switch.ch/domain/newdom-reg.htm. Discussion takes place in 
newsgroup ch.network.


Background:

SWITCH has received responsibility for country-specific top level domain CH 
in 1987 and for LI in 1993. In other words: SWITCH has been delegated to 
assign names, specifically secondlevel domain names, within designated parts 
(CH and LI) of the DNS name space. This responsibility has been delegated by 
the Internet Assigned Number Authority (IANA), which itself currently 
has responsibility for the Internet domain name space. IANA is a constituent 
body of the Internet Society (ISOC), is acting as clearing house for the 
assignment and coordination of various Internet protocol parameters, and is 
acting on behalf of ISOC and the US Federal Network Council (FNC). Members 
of IANA are selected by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and 
approved by the ISOC Board of Trustees.

The delegated responsibilities are documented in various RFC�s (Request For 
Comment): RFC-1031/32/33/34, 1480 und 1592. 

SWITCH operates a primary DNS (Domain Name System) server for toplevel 
domains CH and LI which is located in Zurich and a secondary server located 
in Lausanne.


Marcel Schneider@SWITCH