diff --git a/doc/News.html b/doc/News.html
index da9216136..51e8a5b2c 100644
--- a/doc/News.html
+++ b/doc/News.html
@@ -37,6 +37,18 @@ globalheader();
 -->
 
 
+<br><p>v0.37
+<ul>
+<li>Check on new peer names: must not occur already and may only contain letters, numbers and '_' or '-'.</li>
+<li></li>
+<li></li>
+<li></li>
+<li></li>
+<li></li>
+</ul>
+
+
+
 <br><p>v0.36_build20050326
 <ul>
 <li>Enhanced thread control and added performance menu: this can be used to steer scheduling tasks and for profiling.</li>
diff --git a/htroot/SettingsAck_p.html b/htroot/SettingsAck_p.html
index 319090ad2..601c9a385 100644
--- a/htroot/SettingsAck_p.html
+++ b/htroot/SettingsAck_p.html
@@ -58,7 +58,13 @@ You are now permanently <b>online</b>. After a short while you should see the ef
 ::
 <b>The remote-proxy setting has been changed</b><br>
 The new setting is effective immediately, you don't need to re-start.
-#(/info)#
+::
+<b>The submitted peer name is already used by another peer. Please choose a different name.</b><br>
+The settings have not been changed.
+::
+<b>The submitted peer name is not well-formed. Please choose a different name.</b><br>
+Peer names must not contain characters other than (a-z, A-Z, 0-9, '-', '_') and must not be longer than 80 characters.
+The settings have not been changed.#(/info)#
 </p>
 <p>You can now go back to the <a href="Settings_p.html">Settings</a> page if you want to make more changes.</p>
 
diff --git a/htroot/SettingsAck_p.java b/htroot/SettingsAck_p.java
index 76013d090..3cccb1335 100644
--- a/htroot/SettingsAck_p.java
+++ b/htroot/SettingsAck_p.java
@@ -191,15 +191,35 @@ public class SettingsAck_p {
             String port = (String) post.get("port");
             String peerName = (String) post.get("peername");
             String shutdownWaiting = (String) post.get("shutdownWaiting");
-            String info = "";
-            env.setConfig("port", port);
-            env.setConfig("peerName", peerName);
-            env.setConfig("shutdownWaiting", shutdownWaiting);
             
-            prop.put("info", 12);//port or peername changed
-            prop.put("info_port", port);
-            prop.put("info_peerName", peerName);
-            prop.put("info_shutdownWaiting", shutdownWaiting);
+            // check if peer name already exists
+            yacySeed oldSeed = yacyCore.seedDB.lookupByName(peerName);
+            
+            if (oldSeed == null) {
+                // the name is new
+                boolean nameOK = (peerName.length() <= 80);
+                for (int i = 0; i < peerName.length(); i++) {
+                    if ("abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ0123456789-_".indexOf(peerName.charAt(i)) < 0) nameOK = false;
+                }
+                if (!(nameOK)) {
+                    // deny change
+                    prop.put("info", 17);//peer name is wrong
+                } else {
+                    
+                    // set values
+                    env.setConfig("port", port);
+                    env.setConfig("peerName", peerName);
+                    env.setConfig("shutdownWaiting", shutdownWaiting);
+                    
+                    prop.put("info", 12);//port or peername changed
+                    prop.put("info_port", port);
+                    prop.put("info_peerName", peerName);
+                    prop.put("info_shutdownWaiting", shutdownWaiting);
+                }
+            } else {
+                // deny change
+                prop.put("info", 16);//peer name is already used by another peer
+            }
             return prop;
         }
         
diff --git a/htroot/Settings_p.html b/htroot/Settings_p.html
index c686b9abc..fd5628838 100644
--- a/htroot/Settings_p.html
+++ b/htroot/Settings_p.html
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ delete the file 'DATA/SETTINGS/httpProxy.conf' in the YaCy application root fold
   </tr>
   <tr valign="top">
     <td>Peer Name:</td>
-    <td><input name="peername" type="text" size="32" maxlength="32" value="#[peerName]#"></td>
+    <td><input name="peername" type="text" size="32" maxlength="80" value="#[peerName]#"></td>
     <td><b>Your peer name defines also a new '.yacy' - domain, which can be accessed from every peer running this proxy.
            Using your 'Home Page' and 'File Share' - zones you also have a platform to provide content to your new domain.</b><br>
     <i>(hint: choose a name that appears on a web page that tells something about you, vistit the page, get the 'senior' status, and you can be found..)</i></td>
diff --git a/makerelease.sh b/makerelease.sh
index 2156049d6..da93b5110 100755
--- a/makerelease.sh
+++ b/makerelease.sh
@@ -45,10 +45,10 @@
 # Contributions and changes to the program code must be marked as such.
 
 # define variables
-version='0.36'
+version='0.361'
 datestr=`date +%Y%m%d`
-release='yacy_v'$version'_'$datestr
-#release='yacy_dev_v'$version'_'$datestr
+#release='yacy_v'$version'_'$datestr
+release='yacy_dev_v'$version'_'$datestr
 target='RELEASE'
 classes='classes'
 source='source'