diff --git a/src/main/java/org/gcube/social_networking/socialutillibrary/Utils.java b/src/main/java/org/gcube/social_networking/socialutillibrary/Utils.java
index 92c6545..59eba62 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/gcube/social_networking/socialutillibrary/Utils.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/gcube/social_networking/socialutillibrary/Utils.java
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ public class Utils {
 					"(\\w+:\\w+@)?((([-\\w]+\\.)+(com|org|net|gov" + 
 					"|mil|biz|info|mobi|name|aero|jobs|museum" + 
 					"|travel|[a-z]{2,5}))|("+ IPV4_REGEX +")|(\\["+ IPV6_REGEX +"\\]))(:[\\d]{1,5})?" + 
-					"(((\\/([-\\w~!$+|.,=]|%[a-fA-F\\d]{2})+)+|\\/)+|\\?|#)?" + 
+					"(((\\/([-\\w~!$+@|.,=]|%[a-fA-F\\d]{2})+)+|\\/)+|\\?|#)?" + 
 					"((\\?([-\\w~!$+|.,*:]|%[a-fA-F\\d{2}])+=?" + 
 					"([-\\w~!$+|.,*:=]|%[a-fA-F\\d]{2})*)" + 
 					"(&(?:[-\\w~!$+|.,*:]|%[a-fA-F\\d{2}])+=?" + 
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/gcube/social_networking/socialutillibrary/TestUnit.java b/src/test/java/org/gcube/social_networking/socialutillibrary/TestUnit.java
index df9acd1..4724896 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/gcube/social_networking/socialutillibrary/TestUnit.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/gcube/social_networking/socialutillibrary/TestUnit.java
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ public class TestUnit {
 	//@Test
 	public void extractUrl(){
 
-		String url = " test http://[2001:db8:0:1:1:1:1:1]:8080/group/preeco/what-if?p_p_id=simul_WAR_simulfishgrowthportlet&p_p_lifecycle=0 ";
+		String url = " test http://2001:db8:0:1:1:1:1:1:8080/group/preeco/what-if?p_p_id=simul_WAR_simulfishgrowthportlet&p_p_lifecycle=0 ";
 		String result = Utils.extractURL(url);
 		System.out.println("urls are " + result);
 	}