There have been a few updates for .fi (Finland) domain names. The Finnish Communications Regulatory Authority (FICORA) has announced:
- it is now possible to register .fi domain names for twelve months
- they have launched a new service that allows users to test the performance of the name services of fi-domain names
- a new website for the domain name services from FICORA.
As of January 5, it is now possible to register .fi domain names for periods of twelve months in addition to the standard three year registrations with prices of â¬15 and â¬41 respectively. This also reflects a reduction in the price of a three-year registration of â¬2.
Regarding the service to allow users to test the performance of the name services of fi-domain names, it is completely independent from the domain name service, domain.ficora.fi, and does not require registration or technical expertise.
The service is available at dnstest.ficora.fi.
The most important tool of the service is “Verify the performance of the name services of the fi-domain name”, which prints out an explicit report on the performance of the name services of the domain name the user has entered. The report shows whether the name services of the domain name comply with the requirements of FICORA. Eventual problems are also reported. The tool can be used for verifying the performance of the name services of fi-domain names only.
This tool allows the verification of the name services of the granted domain name and the domain name yet to be registered (not yet found in the fi-root). If the domain name has not yet been granted, the verification of the performance of name services requires that the name servers of the domain name are entered in the “Name servers” field of the tool. It is not necessary to enter the name server information of the granted domain name, because the fi-root will provide this information.
If the user is modifying her or his name server information and wishes to verify the performance of the name services with the new name servers before the modification is brought to the fi-root, the new name servers must then be entered in the “Name servers” field.
In addition, the service provides separate tools for inquiries of individual DNS records and reverse records, for example. The analysis of the data returned from these tools requires, however, some knowledge of name server technology. The service also provides a tool for making whois inquiries. It also allows verifying the public whois data of any domain name under a Top Level Domain (e.g. fi, com, net).
Lastly, FICORA have launched a new website with domain name policies and information being moved from ficora.fi to domain.ficora.fi.
To register your .fi domain name, check out Europe Registry here.