The Brazilian Internet Management Committee is responsible for coordinating the registration of domain names and the assignment of website addresses, while FAPESP (Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo) oversees domain name registration activities, and distributes and maintains website addresses.
In accordance with Resolution 001/98 of the management committee, the right to a domain name is granted to the first registration applicant who satisfies the relevant legislative prerequisites. Registration can be granted to individuals as well as legal entities operating in Brazil. The owner of a domain name is fully responsible for the creation and management of any sub-domains. The cost of registering a domain name in Brazil is set in accordance with international standards, payable to FAPESP.
The use of a registered domain name will be extinguished in the following circumstances:
- express waiver of its bearer;
- non-payment for registration and maintenance;
- non-use for an uninterrupted period of 180 days;
- non-observance of the management committee's rules; and
- judicial order.
No compensation or indemnification is owed to the bearer in the event of the registration's cancellation.
The management committee recently altered the domain registration policy approving the removal of the cap on registrations in the Brazilian Federal Taxpayers’ Registry (CNPJ), which is laid down in Annex I to CG Resolution 001/98. This resolution establishes that an institution may register a maximum of 10 domains under one CNPJ number, and that all of them must be under the same top-level domain except in cases of (i) transition from one top-level domain to another, wherein simultaneous use is permitted for 180 days, and (ii) co-existence of the top-level domains .com and .psi specifically for internet service providers (ISPs).
As of April 4 2002 one company may register as many domain names as it wishes within one top-level domain, the only restriction being that the same name cannot be registered in different generic top-level domains.(1) So, for example, an entity that registers the domain x.com.br cannot also register it as x.inf.br.
Restricted DPNs which are used by institutions that satisfy specific requirements are exempt, for example:
- .psi.br for ISPs;
- .org.br (for non-governmental not-for-profit organizations);
- .am.br (for AM radio broadcasting companies licensed by the Communications Ministry);
- .coop.br (for cooperatives);
- .fm.br (FM radio broadcasting companies licensed by the Communications Ministry);
- .g12.br (for elementary and high-school entities);
- .gov.br (for federal government entities);
- .mil.br (for the Brazilian armed forces); and
- .tv.br (for televisual broadcasting companies licensed by the Communications Ministry).
These institutions have the right to generic registration and to the registration of their names in as many restricted domains as they wish.
For further information on this topic please contact Ricardo Barretto, Camilla Coelho Pardini or Camila Varas Siqueira at Barretto Ferreira, Kujawski, Brancher e Gonçalves – Sociedade de Advogados by telephone (+55 11 3066 5999) or by fax (+55 11 3167 4735) or by email ([email protected] or [email protected]).
Endnotes
(1) That is, .agr.br; .com.br; .esp.br; .far.br; .imb.br; .ind.br; .inf.br; .rec.br; .srv.br; .tmp.br; .tur.br; .etc.br.