How did .nl do in 2013?

Lower growth

Growth in the number of domain names continued to slow in 2013. Net growth declined from 6.6 per cent to 5.3 per cent, a 13.7 per cent fall in the rate of expansion. The pattern was not restricted to .nl, but repeated in almost all country-code domains, especially in Western Europe, where the national domain is a well-established concept. Indeed, .nl out-performed most comparable top-level domains. Growth in .de (Germany) fell by 43.2 per cent, while the expansion of .uk (United Kingdom) was 44.6 per cent slower. The growth of .eu actually fell by 95.5 per cent, from 5.3 per cent in 2012 to 0.24 per cent in 2013.
Outside Western Europe, and particularly in the emerging economies, domain name growth remained higher. The national domains of the so-called BRICS countries expanded by more than 25 per cent in 2013, for example.
The declining growth of the major West European country-code domains was due primarily to the poor economic conditions in 2012 and the first half of 2013. There is a strong link between levels of trade and demand for domain names. In addition, the West European market simply has less room for growth. Furthermore, there is simply less scope for growth in Western Europe, because the number of registered domain names per head of the population is much higher than elsewhere. In the international context described, 2013 was a good year for .nl. Despite the reduced rate of growth, .nl’s share of the Dutch domain name market rose to 73.5 per cent by the end of 2013. Over the course of the year, 971,304 new .nl domain names were registered, with the proportion of registrations made by private individuals increasing to more than 30 per cent. SIDN expects growth to remain sluggish in 2014. The number of cancellations is rising (by 5.4 per cent in 2013), while the number of new registrations is declining.

Development of registrations and closures

2013 study of trends in internet use

SIDN published the first edition of its research report Trends in Internet Use in 2012. The report contained an analysis of how apps, mobile devices and social media are influencing the demand for domain names. In 2013, we released an update to the original report, highlighting the following developments:

  • People generally prefer tablets to smartphones for accessing the internet, even though far more people have smartphones.
  • 'Phablets' – smartphones with screens of 5 inches or more – are expected to become one of the most popular internet access devices.
  • Most companies have already embraced social media and expect little growth in their social media use in the next few years.
  • The trend towards the use of promotional and campaign websites to reach specific target groups is expected to continue; there is currently no evidence of domain names being displaced by social media.
  • The number of private individuals registering domain names continues to increase.
  • The percentage of private individuals and businesses planning to register a domain name has halved.
Download the research report (in Dutch)

Domain name density

.nl registars

Biggest country-code domains

15.283.687
14411875
10.299.989
6.368.833
5.115.652

.nl market share in the Netherlands

.eu
6.8%
.com
14.1%
.nl
73.5%

.nl domain leads the way on DNSSEC

DNSSEC (Domain Name System Security Extensions) is an extension to the DNS protocol. With DNSSEC in use, an internet user can't be redirected to a fake or malicious website despite entering the correct address of the site they want to visit. DNSSEC also facilitates the use of other security technologies, such as DANE and DKIM.
SIDN has played a pioneering role with DNSSEC. The .nl zone was signed with DNSSEC in 2010 and since 2012 registrars have been able to offer their clients DNSSEC protection on an automated basis. Automation is vital to the effectiveness of DNSSEC and has therefore been actively promoted by SIDN. In 2013, the number of DNSSEC-secured .nl domain names rose from 1.3 to 1.7 million. As a result, .nl has far more DNSSEC-secured names than any other country-code domain in the world. SIDN nevertheless believes that there is considerable scope for improvement and therefore continues to invest in the acceptance, use and further development of DNSSEC.


Secure transfer of DNSSEC-domain names

Until recently, DNSSEC had one major unresolved drawback. Transferring a DNSSEC-secured domain name from one registrar to another was a major headache. During a transfer, a domain name and the associated website could become unreachable or be left without protection for several hours. That situation was clearly undesirable, especially for businesses whose turnover is largely website-generated.
SIDN therefore devised a unique solution. 'Key relay' is a process that uses the registry as a medium for passing key material from the receiving registrar to the releasing registrar. Communication between the two registrars is via the channel that they already use for domain name registration and maintenance: SIDN's domain registration system. The solution is therefore easy to implement and has won general support from .nl registrars.
Being able to transfer a DNSSEC domain name securely removes a significant obstacle to the further rollout of DNSSEC. On the day that key relay was introduced to .nl, two registrars immediately put the mechanism to successful use.

3.9 million domain names secured with DNSSEC

Whois extended

The Whois is a service which anyone can use to look up information about existing domain names. Since November 2013, the .nl Whois has included information about the 'reseller' through whom a domain name may have been registered. The change makes it easier for registrants to see whom they are doing business with. The inclusion of reseller information had been requested by many registrars and was realised in close consultation with the Registrars' Association. In 2013, SIDN covered all of the RA's costs with a grant of EUR 178,000.


.nl Control: extra protection for domain names

In 2012, SIDN developed an add-on service called .nl Control, which is aimed at organisations that want extra control over their domain names, such as banks, government agencies and businesses with valuable brand names. Subscribers to the service are protected against the possibility of unauthorised updates to their registrations. So, for example, a name can't be transferred or cancelled, or its registrant changed, without specific authorisation. If a name is registered for .nl Control, update transactions are not processed automatically, but manually by SIDN after obtaining the registrant's explicit agreement. In 2013, SIDN extended the .nl Control service. Registrants can now also prevent unauthorised changes to name server IP addresses, known as glue records. The extension was introduced in response to the growing demand created by a number of security incidents involving .nl registrars. In August, for example, hackers modified a registrar's DNS data, with the result that thousands of domain names temporarily pointed to a website that was distributing malware.

Local anycast network

With DDoS attacks increasing in number and intensity, SIDN decided in 2013 that DNS anycast capability should also be installed at local third-party sites, such as at large ISPs and hosting firms. SIDN is the first registry to set up a local anycast network of this kind.
Global anycast is a widely used technology for increasing the availability of servers. A number of servers share a single IP address, making routers 'think' that they are all the same server. Traffic then goes to the 'nearest' point, with the result that the total network load is distributed across the multiple instances of the server. Local anycast differs from global anycast insofar as a number of local nodes are involved. Smart routing means that the nodes can only be approached locally.
As a result, worldwide DDoS traffic cannot ever reach a local node, regardless of the traffic volume. The only DDoS traffic that can reach the node is locally generated traffic, which is much easier to control. Consequently, in the event of an attack that cannot be isolated because of its size, local anycast servers provide extra capacity, helping to fight off the assault.
SIDN's local anycast-technology is attractive mainly to large ISPs and hosting firms. If SIDN's servers come under attack, it affords them the best prospect of being able to reach a functional, fast-responding .nl name server. For smaller players, SIDN has created so-called 'shared nodes' – local anycast servers that are shared by several firms. One of the shared nodes is housed at AMS-IX. SIDN's local anycast set-up was devised and built in house.

Complaints & Appeals Board

The Complaints & Appeals Board for .nl domain names (C&AB) is an independent body that .nl registrars and registrants can turn to if they are unhappy with decisions of certain types made by SIDN. The C&AB considered four appeals in 2012: one more than the previous year. In two cases, the Board dismissed the appeals; the other two appeals were judged to be inadmissible. As well as considering appeals, the C&AB rules on complaints where the complainant believes the registration of a particular domain name to be inconsistent with public order or decency. No such complaints were received in 2013, however.

Dispute Resolution System for .nl Domain Names

The Dispute Resolution System for .nl Domain Names is intended to be a fast, straightforward and affordable alternative to legal action. In 2012, sixty-five disputes were referred to the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center. Of those cases, twenty-six were decided, five are still under consideration and the rest were closed before the resolution procedure had been completed. Of the cases that were closed without an arbitration ruling, twelve were concluded by successful SIDN mediation and the others were withdrawn, because the parties reached and amicable solution or because the complainant chose not to proceed, for example. SIDN acted as mediator in a total of thirty-one disputes during 2013. WIPO decisions and other domain name jurisprudence are published on www.domjur.nl, a joint initiative by SIDN and Tilburg University.

Notice and Take Down Code

The Notice and Take Down Code gives internet service providers a framework for handling reports regarding unlawful of criminal website content. In 2013, SIDN received nine requests in connection with the code. In none of the cases concerned did SIDN consider it appropriate to render the domain name in question unreachable. SIDN took no action in the cases concerned because, for example, another party in the chain was taking action or because SIDN did not consider the content in question to be unmistakably unlawful or illegal. Given the potentially far-reaching implications of making a domain unreachable, SIDN cannot intervene in such circumstances.