The Honduran government has informed the .HM ccTLD manager, RDS-HN,
they must hand over the management of the ccTLD to CONATEL as CONATEL
has not signed any agreement with any public or private entity to
manage .HN domain names.
On 25 September, Honduran government employees went to the offices of
RDS-HN to advise that RDS-HN did not have the authority to manage the
ccTLD and ordered an immediate suspension of the service.
RDS-HN was ordered to immediately suspend any activities relating to
the registration and delegation of new .HN domain names and that RDS-HN
must give CONATEL a list of .HN domain names.
The government officials acted under Article 79B of the Regulations of
the Telecommunications Act (2002). This rule says that "CONATEL
controls the regulation and administration of the domains and IP
directions within the national territory. CONATEL will be able to take
the necessary measures so that the administration of domains and IP
addresses can be executed through from other public or private
institutions, for which agreements will be signed and the corresponding
regulations will be issued."
The government’s move has been criticised by the Latin American and
Caribbean ccTLD Association (LACTLD). LACTLD criticised "the request
made by the Government of Honduras to take in a sudden and abrupt way
the operation .HN due to the fact that it will be detrimental to the
users of domain name system in Honduras which primarily require
stability for the adequate access of Internet resources."
A more detailed statement on the suspension of RDS-HN’s .HN domain management services from the LACTLD is available from lactld.org/News_Item.2009-09-28.9048048483.