The last information available about Total Registries of ccTLD is showing that there are #13.589.459 .DE Domains registered in Germany ccTLD. A few years ago Germany was leading the race, but China came in with .CN Domains and took the first place. A mayor drop in .CN Domains registration & renovations during the beging of the this year is the reason behind this new leader in the industry of ccTLD. Continue reading ‘.DE Domains are again the #1 in the world of ccTLD’
Archive for the 'Germany Domains .DE' Category
German cities and regions are the most enthusiastic in expressing interest for new generic Top Level Domains (gTLDs) that are likely to go live in 2010 according to the latest timetable from ICANN.
The most recent gTLD initiative is .BAYERN for the Bavarian region in southern Germany, whose capital is Munich.
According to many Bavarians they are Bavarian first, German second. According to many Germans, Bavaria is almost another country. So it is likely with this pride in Bavaria a gTLD for the region will gain significant support.
One of the most prominent of the likely applicants for a new gTLD in February 2010 is .BERLIN, among a number of other German cities. Germany is a likely candidate for numerous applications in part due to the high number of .DE registrations.
In the past month the .DE ccTLD past the 13 million registrations mark and earlier in the year reclaimed the number one ccTLD position from .CN.
Support for new city and region gTLDs in Germany has also come from the German parliament when in January 2008 the Bundestag expressed support for the initiatives. Support is expected in the near future from the Bavarian government.
.BAYERN is a registered trademark while dotBayern is a not for profit organization.
Other proposed regional gTLDs are Wales (.cym), Galicia (.gal) and Brittany (.bzh).
.DE, the domain extension for Germany, passed the 13 million registration milestone on 18 August cementing its position for now as the domain extension with the most registrations worldwide.
With .CN (China)’s official statistics for domain name registrations on a downward spiral, according to figures provided by .CN Domain Registry, .DE (Germany) has regained its position as the extension with the most registrations.
Registrations for .CN have declined from a peak of 14,082,553 in February 2009 to 12,545,589, a decline of approximately 1.5 million, as of the end of July. This appears to be a correction following a promotion where .CN domain names could be registered for one yuan for the 12 month period to December 31, 2008. With registrations coming up for renewal, many registrants may have decided not to renew their domain names.
Meanwhile .DE registrations continue to grow, albeit at a slightly slower rate than before. The easing off of registrations began in late 2008/early 2009 and is most likely due to the global financial crisis. When looking at figures provided by .DE Domain Registry, registrations have grown at a consistent rate since mid 2001 till early 2009.
The 13 millionth .DE registration is expected around 22 August with registrations currently standing at 12,990,476.
- A valid domain must be comprised solely of the digits 0 9, the 26 letters of the Latin alphabet, the hyphens and the other letters listed in the Annex of the The Registry Domain Guidelines.
- The domain must contain at least one letter of the alphabet (otherwise there would be a risk of confusion with the purely numerical IP address). Hyphens are not permitted in first or last place, nor is it possible for both the third and fourth places to be hyphens at the same time (such as xn .de).
- No distinction is made between capital and small letters (upper and lower case).
- The minimum length of a .de domain is three characters and the maximum length is 63 characters.
- The endings of existing Top Level Domains (such as .com, .net or .org) cannot be registered nor can the abbreviated geographical designations used for road vehicle number plates in Germany.
When you register a .de domain you conclude a contract, so you must satisfy all the conditions that apply to the conclusion of any sort of legally binding contract. First of all, that means that you be capable of entering into legally binding rights and duties, which any natural individual or legal entity is certainly capable of doing. Secondly you must be capable of conducting business or you must be effectively represented.
It is possible for individuals or institutions (that have legal capacity) not located in Germany to register .de domains. There is, however, a condition, namely that they must appoint an administrative contact who is resident in Germany and who has a postal address at which it is possible to serve documents (i.e. not a mere P.O. box). The administrative contact is then also the person formally authorized by the domain holder to receive service of official or court documents (Zustellungsbevollmächtigter) within the meaning of the German Code of Civil Procedure (Zivilprozessordnung) and the German Code of Criminal Procedure (Strafprozessordnung). The reason for this measure is to ensure that if any party has a legal claim to pursue, it is not made more difficult for them by having to serve official or court documents in another country, which is often a long, drawn out process.
The domains are always registered on a “first come, first served” basis.
It is possible for a domain to be held jointly by more than one holder. If the Domain Holder or one of the joint holders is not a natural person, the full name of the legal person (organization) must be given (including the indication of its legal form). In addition, the full postal address of the Domain Holder or, in the event of joint holders, the full postal address of at least one of the joint holders must be communicated; a post office box number does not constitute a full postal address.
The Registry shall have the right to terminate the contract or to refuse its renewal, when it has substantial grounds for so doing. These grounds shall include, in particular, any case in which:
- the Domain holder is not the Assignee of the corresponding telephone number; or
- the Domain Holder has persistently breached substantial contract duties or has remained in breach thereof despite receiving a formal warning accompanied by a deadline for compliance; or
- the data communicated by the Domain Holder to the Registry is incorrect; or
- it is impossible to establish the identity of the Domain Holder from the particulars communicated; or
- the Domain Holder not being domiciled in Germany, the formal service of a document on the Administrative Contact instigated by a third party fails at two consecutive attempts, or if such service is deliberately thwarted twice by changing the Administrative Contact; or
- the Domain Holder, having abandoned their domicile in Germany and having received a formal warning accompanied by a deadline for compliance, fails to appoint an Administrative Contract domiciled in Germany.
What is a domain?
Domains are an addressing technique for identifying and localizing computers (or “hosts”) in the Internet. Computers recognize one another solely by means of their IP addresses, which are purely numerical. The IPv4 standard, which is still the dominant one, requires them to be in the form xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx, where each xxx stands for a number between 0 and 255. A typical IP address might, for instance, be 10.136.66.12. When one computer wants to communicate with another one via the Internet, it sends it “Internet packets” which are addressed to the recipient’s IP address.
It is human nature that we usually find it a lot easier to memorize terms and descriptions than rows of figures. That was the reason the Domain Name System (DNS) was developed and it makes it possible to use words, names and terms instead of digits more or less at will (although a few rules have to be complied with). That now makes it possible for Internet users to access hosts either through their IP address or by entering the domain. The DNS can also be used for calling other services and information.
When a domain is called in the Internet, special computers, known as name servers, assume the task of translating it into the corresponding IP address. Because each domain and each IP address is unique, they can both only be registered once in the world.
The DNS itself has a hierarchical structure. A number of Top Level Domains (TLDs), such as .de or .com, are defined as its topmost layer. Under these TLDs, it is possible to register second level domains, which are nearly always referred to simply as “domains”.
Is it possible for individuals or institutions not located in Germany to register a .de domain?
Yes. It is possible for individuals or institutions (that have legal capacity) not located in Germany to register .de domains. There is, however, a condition, namely that they must appoint an administrative contact who is resident in Germany and who has a postal address at which it is possible to serve documents (i.e. not a mere P.O. box). The administrative contact is then also the person formally authorized by the domain holder to receive service of official or court documents (Zustellungsbevollmächtigter) within the meaning of the German Code of Civil Procedure (Zivilprozessordnung) and the German Code of Criminal Procedure (Strafprozessordnung). The reason for this measure is to ensure that if any party has a legal claim to pursue, it is not made more difficult for them by having to serve official or court documents in another country, which is often a long, drawn out process.
How does the name of a .de domain have to built up? Are there any character strings that can’t be registered?
A valid domain must be comprised solely of the digits 0 9, the 26 letters of the Latin alphabet and the hyphen. The domain must contain at least one letter of the alphabet (otherwise there would be a risk of confusion with the purely numerical IP address). Hyphens are not permitted in first or last place, nor is it possible for both the third and fourth places to be hyphens at the same time (such as xn .de). No distinction is made between capital and small letters (upper and lower case). The minimum length of a .de domain is three characters and the maximum length is 63 characters. If the domain includes letters from the Annex, the maximum length is determined by its ACE version.
The endings of existing Top Level Domains (such as .com, .net or .org) cannot be registered nor can the abbreviated geographical designations used for road vehicle number plates in Germany.
Why are domains not registered if they have a hyphen in both the third and fourth positions?
Under .de it is not possible to register any domains that contain a sequence of characters that are used to identify an Internationalized Domain Name IDN. This affects all domains that have a hyphen in both their third and fourth position, such as xn beispiel.de. Domains that have already been registered with hyphens in third and fourth position can continue to exist and their holders can continue to use them as they have done up until now.
Why are domains not permitted if they are only made up of digits?
Domains must contain at least one letter. The reason for this lies in the very nature of domains. The computers in the Internet do not recognize one another through domains but through so called IP addresses, i.e. pure numbers. When you enter a domain in your browser, this is translated into the corresponding IP address by a so called name server. There is, however, a risk that a domain made up only of digits might be confused with an IP number, which would cause technical difficulties. This might not be restricted to endangering the connectivity of your own website but could also impair other Internet users.
Why is it not possible to register domains that are shorter than three characters?
If domains with only two characters were registered, there would be a serious risk of confusion with the endings of the country code Top Level Domains (ccTLDs), which are also comprised of two letters (such as .uk for the United Kingdom or .fr for France). Domains with the pattern TLD.TLD (such as uk.de) would also cause technical problems on account of a programming bug in a version of DNS Resolver software that is in widespread use. The errors that occur cause difficulties not only for the domain that triggers them but for other sites as well.
It is not enough simply to exclude existing ccTLDs from registration, because their number and composition are not entirely constant over time. Examples of changes are the ccTLD .dd, which was once earmarked for the former German Democratic Republic (which no longer exists), and the ccTLD .ps, which wasn’t used in the past, but has now been introduced for Palestine. That explains why there is an absolute rule that no two character domains may be registered under .de.
Why is it not possible to register the geographic abbreviations used on German road vehicle number plates as domains?
Given the large number of .de domains that have been registered to date, the Registry wants to keep the option open of expanding its name space through the use of regional subdivisions. The geographic abbreviations used on road vehicle number plates in Germany could well be suitable for use as Second Level Domains for this purpose. For example, anyone living in the district called Main Taunus Kreis would be able to register a domain under .mtk.de. To keep this option open, the Registry must make sure that all these domains (such as mtk.de) are kept free. At present, no decision has been taken as to whether such regionalized Second Level Domains will be introduced and, if so, when.
It is possible for further sub domains to be set up under my domain?
Yes. It is possible to divide a domain up into sub domains (a sub domain of bigcity university.de would be, for instance, info.bigcity university.de). However, such sub domains are not registered by Germany Registry, but have to be set up by you or your provider. If you want to use the web address http://www.subdomain.de beispieldomain.de, then Germany Registry will register the domain de beispieldomain.de for you. To get the sub domain subdomain.de beispieldomain.de set up you should then contact your provider.
Who makes sure that the domain I request does not collide with the rights of third parties?
That is something that you must do yourself. Through the act of ordering the domain, you give an assurance that the registration of the requested domain in your name and your use of it does not infringe anybody else’s rights. At the same time, you accept liability for the correctness of this assurance. That means that if there ever is an infringement of anyone else’s rights, you will be the one held legally liable. Assigning the liability risk in this way reflects the fact that you are free to select your domain yourself and you are also going to benefit from using it.
What consequences will it have for me if I supply inaccurate data when ordering a domain?
When you order a domain, you are required to ensure that the correct and complete data is given for the domain holder and any other named contacts. If you fail to do that, such as by indicating an irrelevant address or a false name, you run the risk of losing the domain later on. Wrong data gives the Registry the right to terminate the Domain Contract without giving you any notice beforehand.
What can I do if the domain I would like to have has already been registered for someone else?
.DE domains are always registerd on a “first come, first served” basis. If someone else registered before you, there are only two things you can do. Firstly, you could settle for a different name for your domain. Secondly, you could try contacting the domain holder and ask them if they would be willing to transfer the domain to you and, if so, what their conditions would be. The only exception to this might be if you can show that you have a greater right to the domain than its current holder.
