AFNIC To Relax Registration Rules?

AFNIC, which runs the .fr registry, has published its Action Plan for 2010.

While the "old chestnut" of DNSSEC is on the agenda (no surprise there!), there's also reference to a change in the registration rules.

Under the current registration rules registrants need to supply an address in France.
The proposed change is intended to open up registration to all French nationals regardless of their place of residence.

So does this leave the door open for a wider change?

Are we likely to see non-French nationals being able to register .fr domains without having to "jump through hoops"?

The current situation is more than a little frustrating. If a non-French company or individual wants to register a .fr domain, regardless of their motives, the registry rules render the registration incredibly difficult. While other ccTLD registries may have restrictive rules, in most instances there are relatively "sane" ways to navigate them.

It's not clear from the document that has been published what the registry's exact plans are in this area, but any change and progress in this area should be welcomed.

According to the document the plan would need to be voted on by the board in November.

The original text is available via the AFNIC site.