Dutch Ministry Wants Guarantees from .NL Domain Registry SIDN

The Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs wants guarantees that the .nl domain will remain sovereign and accessible under all circumstances. State Secretary, Frank Heemskerk, believes that since the .nl domain has such large public interest, the security and sovereignty for the Netherlands must be guaranteed by domain registry SIDN.

To that end, the Ministry wants to sign an agreement with Dutch Domain Registry SIDN in mid-June, which will help secure those concerns. This move is reflected in a written reply by the State Secretary that was also addressing concerns about the collapsed landrush of numeric domains, which we reported on earlier.

Heemskerk writes that, "The .nl domain has become a critical part of Dutch infrastructure and the 2.8 million registered .nl domains play a crucial role in the economic and social climate in the Netherlands. Domain names make it possible for consumers, businesses, institutions and public authorities to interact on the the Internet, e-mail each other, communicate and do business via the web. The Netherlands uses more than 80 percent of the domain names as .nl domains. A delay or service blackout of the .nl domain would cause major economic and social damages."

Through the agreement, "The security and sovereignty of the .nl domain will be guaranteed in writing and with more safeguards in place. This is important considering the important public function it provides", says the Ministry of Eceonomic Affairs. The document does not specify what practical steps will be taken to this end but Heemskerk stressed that the principle of self-regulation will be maintained. Roelof Meijer, director of the SIDN, did not comment on the specific content of the agreement, but he stressed that SIDN will continue to operate independently under self-regulation. "That is also the preference of the ministry", said Meijer.

In response to questions regarding the fiasco surrounding the landrush of numeric fields last February, Secretary Heemskerk was satisfied with the settlement by the SIDN. Two companies had gained the bulk of new domains claimed by the SIDN, which had been overloaded with quotes. The agreement forces those two companies to return nearly 4000 domains. They will soon be raffled among the original candidates. Heemskerk notes that the complaints about the landrush have been taken to heart and that the conduct of this critical landrush has been checked and corrective measures have been undertaken.

Source: DomainNews.nl by Sander Scholten - May 15th, 2008