At least 74,000 domain names ending with .eu have been suspended for abusive behavior by a group that controls the name.

The European Registry of Internet Domain Names, which was appointed by the European Commission to register and manage .eu domain names, said 400 registrars have also been sued for breach of contract.

"In this case we are convinced that the domain name holders of the 74 000 .eu names are acting as a front for a number of registrars. The domain name holders and the registrars can be regarded as one and the same. Since registrars should only register domain names for existing customers and not 'warehouse' the names in order to resell them at a higher price, this is clearly in breach of the registrar contract," said Herman Sobrie, legal manager of EURid.

Copyright 2006 by United Press International