I don't know, but I've found that it's usually more convenient to
start RMI registry from within my program (and shut it down after I'm
done) through LocateRegistry.createRegistry(). I think that running
command-line RMI registry doesn't support SSL, while programatically
you can do something like:

Registry rmiRegistry = LocateRegistry.createRegistry(port, new
SslRMIClientSocketFactory(), new SslRMIServerSocketFactory(null, null,
true));

Also, to avoid registry thread running after your application exists,
don't forget to unexport the RMI registry during shutdown if you're
starting it from your application:

UnicastRemoteObject.unexportObject(rmiRegistry, false);

That's, of course, if you're not exiting with System.exit(0).

               Domchi

This is a limitation by design (it's somewhere in the javadoc). Sun
recommends to use LDAP, Jini Registrar or SLP for network-wide service
location.

That speaking, it's not that hard to create your own implementation of
the NamingService and export it manually (I think I have the code
somewhere, let me know if you need it.)

Dimitar