TLD.sc Your source of information on Top Level Domains

Last year, we’ve already posted some articles to warn you about letters from Domain Renewal Group (DRG). After a period of silence, DRG now strikes again. Apparently this time they seem mainly to be targetting customers of Belgacom.

Some website users of Belgacom received a letter from DRG asking them to renew their domain name at a cost of €28. After this amount is paid, DRG takes over the website of the user. Once this is done, the website can’t be used by his original user anymore.

Belgacom has sent a letter to all his internet customers asking them to ignore the letter of DRG. They’ve also filed a complaint against DRG with the Federal Computer Crime Unit (FCCU) and with the Federal Departement of Economics.

If you receive any requests regarding your domain name, we advice you to contact your current domain name registrar since they will be able to tell you what is real and what isn’t.

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The SIDN (.nl registry) has completed their switch to a new registration system. Up until now everything seems to be up and running.

Together with this switch, they also make some extra changes. The most important change is, that as from Wednesday March 17th 2010 onwards, an authorisation code is required to be able to transfer a .nl name. The SIDN refers to this EPP-key as a “token”.

Before March 17th a .nl transfer required paperwork. This paperwork isn’t needed anymore and will be replaced by the EPP-key. EPP-keys are already required for .com, .net, .org, .de,… transfers.

With this new transfer procedure, the current registrar has the possibilty, just as with a .com, .net,… transfer, to actively approve the transfer within 5 days. When the current registrar approves the transfer, the transfer will be completed almost instantly. When the current registrar doesn’t actively approve the transfer, it will be completed after 5 days.

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Yesterday we’ve already posted an article to inform you about the fact that the SIDN (.nl registry) started switching to a new registration system on March 16th 2010 at 12pm. According to the SIDN, this switch would take 24 hours and be finished at March 17th at 12pm. However, we just received a message to inform us that the switch will take a little more time and will be ended on March 17th at 2pm.

During this switch, it’s impossible to register new .nl domain names or to make changes to already registered .nl names. Registered .nl names will keep functioning and the Whois-information can still be checked although it’s possible you’ll notice some short interruptions.

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Today the .nl registry (the SIDN) starts switching to the new registration procedure. According to the SIDN, this switch will take 24 hours. This switch starts on Tuesday March 16th 2010 at 12pm and ends on Wednesday March 17th 2010 at 12pm.

During this switch, it’s impossible to register new .nl domain names or to make changes to already registered .nl-names. This will be possible again Wednesday March 17th after 12pm.

Transfers of .nl domain names, which are requested after Friday afternoon March 12th 2010 and which aren’t actively approved or rejected with the current registrar, will probably expire. These transfers need to be requested again after 12pm on Wednesday March 17th with the from then on required EPP-key (token).

Already registered .nl domain names will obviously keep working during this switch. The Whois information of a .nl domain name can still be checked although it’s possible you’ll experience some short interruptions.

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Nominet (the English registry) is considering the release of 1 and 2 character and some other reserved .uk names. The registry doesn’t think there’s still a reason why these names couldn’t be released. They’ve just started a consultation on the possible release of those domain names. This consultation will end on June 8th 2010. After this consultation the registry will decide whether they will or won’t release those domain names.

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Norid (the .no registry) is considering to make the Norwegian extension also available for individuals. Right now, only companies can register a domain name under the .no extension and they need to meet very strict conditions. For instance, both the owner and the administrative contact of the domain need to be Norwegian business entities and each company can only register 20 .no domain names.

Now the Norwegian registry is considering the release of the .no extension for individuals, similar questions pop up? Is it necessary to release the .no domain for individuals? Should individuals document rights to the name they apply for? Should there be a limit on the number of domains per person? How the transition to the new rules should be carried out?

Still lots of questions the Norwegian registry need to answer. We’ll definitely keep you posted about this issue.

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As from today, March 4th 2010, filing a dispute resolution with SIDN (.nl registry) can be done completely electronic. Practically all written correspondence will now happen via email. For instance: filing the actual complaint with WIPO, the organisatio which treats this dispute resolutions, can now only be done electronically. Previously, the complainant had to send an email to WIPO and he had to send 5 copies of his complaint via regular mail.

The changes being made to the Dispute Resolution Regulations for .nl Domain Names follow similar changes to the corresponding regulations for .com and certain other domain names, which came into effect on 1 March. For those names everything happens electronically from now on.

Once a complaint has been filed, an email will be send to the email address of the owner of this .nl domain name. To make sure the owner is fully aware of the complaint, he will also receive a letter about it via regular mail.

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