Some 300,000 Europeans rushed to register their new ".eu" domain names in the first hour of being able to sign up for the new Internet addresses, officials said Friday.
By midday, registrations had exceeded 550,000.
Until Friday, registration was limited to specific groups, such as registered trademark owners, public bodies and companies. Now, anyone who resides in the 25-nation European Union can buy a name on a first-come, first-served basis.
EU Commissioner Viviane Reding said the Commission hopes the new ".eu" name will one day rival the ".com" name.
"Europe and its citizens can now project their own Web identity, protected by EU rules," she said.
The initial registrations Friday mostly came from Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and Belgium, Reding said. Previously, special groups registered 320,000 names since that became available in December.
All EU institutions, including the Commission, European Parliament and the EU's general Web site will switch to the ".eu" name on May 9, Europe Day, Reding said.
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