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A Royal Pain in the Internet
Dec. 12, 2003
Spain, television, newspapers, cafés and beauty parlors are abuzz about the news: The heir to the Spanish crown, Don Felipe de Borbón, has finally announced his decision to get married. What nobody imagined was the effect this pronouncement would have on the Internet.
The prince is marrying Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano, a reporter who anchors the top news program on Spanish public television, Televisión Española. The celebrity union sounds more like a fairy tale than a typical European royal wedding, and the public is teeming with excitement.
On Nov. 1, the day the wedding was formally announced, hundreds of people rushed to register domain names related to the couple, according to Red.es, the official Spanish registrar.
According to Red.es, all possible variations have been taken: Letiziaortiz, Leticia-ortiz, letiziaortizrocasolano, felipeyletizia, bodareal, princesaletizia, reinaletizia and a long list of similar domain names. Faced with this onslaught of registrants, the Spanish government has decided to block all attempts to register .es domain names related to the upcoming wedding.
Such intervention, inconceivable in other Western countries, rests on the belief that the reputation of the monarchy, which played an important conciliatory role during Spain's transition from Francisco Franco's dictatorship to democracy, needs to be protected.
More details at: http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,61487,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_5
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