OnlineDomain.com Domain Name News & Opinions
As reported yesterday, the Greek National TV and Radio Organization (ERT) was shut down in just a few hours after the Greek government’s decision to cease operating under its present model. ERT, Elliniki Radiofonia Tileorasi, is/was the state broadcaster and was run by the Greek government. ERT began broadcasting in 1938.
On June 11, 2013 it was decided that ERT will cease operating under its present model, under guidance from the Greek government which continues to be under serious financial pressure. 2,656 ERT employees will lose their jobs. It is anticipated that the Greek government will re-establish the organization in a much smaller scale with a new name (NERIT).
Employees of the state broadcaster protest the closure. The official ERT website ert.gr was moved to anew server today June 12, 2013 and is now run by the employees. The website was hosted at OTENETbut the website was moved because of the close ties of OTENET with the Greek government.
OTENET was and still is a major internet service provider of Greece and was recently consolidated into it’s parent company OTE. OTE (Hellenic Telecommunications Organization S.A.) is the dominant telecommunications provider in Greece and was 100% state owned until 1996. OTE’s privatization started in 1996 and is now listed on the Athens and London Stock Exchanges. Since July 2009 Deutsche Telekom is the largest shareholder of the company.
Last night internet service provided by OTENET was shut down in the headquarters of ERT in Athens.Employees used their portable devices to access the internet while protesting inside the building.
Meanwhile the proposed name of the new TV, Radio and Internet organization, NERIT, was registered today June 12, 2013 in the .gr ccTLD by what seems NOT to be the Greek government. The .gr ccTLD doesn’t have a transparent whois so the owner can not be seen but judging by the registrar used and the nameservers, the new owner is not affiliated with the government. NERIT.gr is not currently resolving.
Nerit.gr is now resolving, but it’s almost certain that the application will be rejected – as long as the government IT ‘wizards’ move fast. 😉
Theo .gr procedures have changed. Now .gr domains are automatically approved after 5 days.
The government’s IT wizards don’t really exist for this matter. ERT employees are fired and nobody else cares what happens to nerit.gr or has the authority to do anything.
NERIT is a stupid name and for all I know they could use a different name is 3 months.
Anyway, what the government can do, is file a complaint at EETT, pay 200 Euro and then wait for a decision that can easily be challenged in Greek courts and then years could go by for a decision. I am in courts for a .info domains for years…
Wow, had no idea! Less red tape is good.
Nice! 😀 http://www.nerit.gr/