Robert Tuttle reports from Beirut.

Whether it be the country's demand for Swedish-made Ericson cell phones, Gucci shoes from Italy or its $7 billion trade deficit, it does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that the Lebanese have a thing for things from abroad. And where they register their internet web sites is no exception.

When it comes to cyberspace, the country's .lb suffix - registered on the end of Lebanese internet web sites such as www.aub.edu.lb for the American University of Beirut - is just like a "made in Lebanon" label. But most Lebanese companies don't have it.

According to Roula Moussa, Managing Director of NetWays web design company, more than 3,000 Lebanese companies are registered on the web but only about 800 are registered in Lebanon with the .lb suffix. Most of the rest are registered in the United States.

Nearly all countries have a two letter suffix such as .uk for the United Kingdom and .nz for New Zealand. Only in the United States, through a non-profit agency called InterNIC - run by Network Solutions - can a domain be registered without a two letter country suffix (with just .com or .org for example).

In Lebanon, explained Moussa, a company is only allowed to use its trade name or a trade mark of one of its products, as registered with the ministry of economy and trade, as its web site domain name. In contrast, in the US, a company can use whatever domain name they choose so long as that domain name is not already taken. For some companies with long names, the restrictive rules in Lebanon can pose a problem.

The case of Joseph Raidy Printing Press, one of the largest print houses in the country, illustrates the dilemma facing Lebanese companies. Three years ago, explained Maria Raidi, the company's administrative manager, the print house tried to take out a .lb web site but found, to some surprise, that the company would have had to be registered under the rather cumbersome www.josephraidy-printingpress.com.lb. Instead, they opted to register in the US under the simpler, altogether snappier, www.raidy.com.

In Lebanon, all .lb internet domains must be registered through the Lebanese Domain Registry at the American University of Beirut.

Khaled Tabara, the engineer responsible for internet services at the university, said that there is some flexibility in registering domain names in Lebanon. Companies, he said, are allowed to register their domain names under the company's initials - for example, Casino du Liban is registered under www.cdl.com.lb. But, he argued, the strict rule on domain name registry is necessary to ensure that the university's liability is protected. If just anyone, for example, were allowed to register a domain under, say, Future, the university would be risking a lawsuit from the popular Lebanese television station Future TV.

"If we allow anyone to register [any name]," he said, "we could eventually be liable."

In the US, where the legal status of domain names has never been entirely defined, the rules have been more flexible. In the early days of the internet, a number of private individuals registered some major trademarks as domain names. A reporter for the magazine Wired, for example, registered www.mcdonalds.com and a Utah student registered www.windows95.com. Later, many large companies were forced to pay millions of dollars to buy their domain names from the private owners. Currently, InterNIC has a policy of first come first served on the registration of domain names. Only if a company can prove that its trade name is being used by someone else will the organisation take action - which amounts to requiring the domain holder to switch to another domain name until the dispute is settled by the two parties, privately or in court.

Registering a .lb domain name does have one advantage over registering in the US - it is free. To be registered with InterNIC in the US, by contrast, one must pay 35 dollars per year.

Then again, for someone without a trade name to open a .lb web site, according to an official at the Ministry of Economy and Trade, the individual must first register the trade name with the ministry. The cost? Between $230 and $300.