DENIC to Submit Proposal for .net Competitive Bid
Frankfurt, Germany, November 23 (ots/PRNewswire)
- DENIC Members Approve Application for The .net Top Level Domain Registry Business, Which Opens for Competitive Bid Starting Next Week
DENIC eG, the registry for .de domains in Germany, today confirmed that it will submit a proposal to take over the administration of the .net Top Level Domain (TLD), which is coming up for competitive bid beginning next Monday, November 29. This decision was approved by the members of the Frankfurt-based registry in a General Assembly meeting held here yesterday. DENIC administers the German TLD .de, the world's largest country code TLD with over eight million registered domains and the world's second largest TLD overall behind .com.
As a not-for-profit cooperative, DENIC sees itself as a neutral, impartial service provider for the entire Internet community. The members' approval reflects broad-based backing and support for DENIC's bid, as many of the members of the cooperative -- which includes more than 220 noteworthy international domain businesses, Internet service providers and carriers -- are experienced national and international registrars and users not only of .de domains but also of other prominent TLDs, including .com and .net.
ICANN, the international Internet organization, will review and evaluate the submitted proposals and assign the future administration of .net, which is the world's third largest TLD with more than five million registered domains. ICANN has drawn up an extensive catalog of requirements, which states in detail what it expects of the future .net operator. This document is clear and thorough in defining the rigorous preconditions that a bidder must fulfill to have any prospect of success. DENIC welcomes the noticeable focus on the candidates' technical competence. ICANN rightfully views the security and stability of the technical services as a primary criterion, which is expected to limit the number of applicants with serious chances to only a handful. As one of the world's leading registries, DENIC fully expects to be among this group.
Sabine Dolderer, a member of DENIC's Executive Board, said, "In emphasizing technical performance as a top priority, ICANN's call for proposals is absolutely pointing in the right direction. DENIC is qualified to meet these technical specifications, and is also prepared to present the many other ways we can advance the Internet and the community through managing the .net registry."
DENIC is ideally poised to take over the administration of .net:
- For more than ten years, DENIC has been administering the .de TLD,
which is universally regarded as a top-grade technical service and
has never gone down, not even once;
- DENIC has years of experience as a large-scale registry, managing
millions of domains, and today is already administering the world's
second largest TLD after .com;
- For many years, in close cooperation with the international Internet
community, DENIC has been strongly committed to the continued
development and improvement of the Internet;
- A decision in favor of DENIC would enhance registry competition and
introduce an alternative to the operators who have administered the
generic TLDs to date.According to ICANN's recently revised timetable, proposals must be submitted by January 18, 2005, and transfer of the administration of .net to the successful bidder is scheduled for July 1, 2005. ICANN's revision earlier this month of its original timetable has no impact on the proposal being prepared by DENIC.
DENIC is confident that it fulfils all the preconditions and criteria ICANN intends to use as the basis for its decision regarding the future operator of .net. Sabine Dolderer added, "We are looking forward to a professional bidding process and a fair decision reached based on the needs of both the .net users and registrars and the Internet community as a whole. DENIC's detailed bid will include particular consideration of the demands of these groups and will bring a new impetus to the administration of .net."
For further information, please contact:
Dr. Klaus Herzig
DENIC
Tel. +49-(0)69/27-235-168
e-mail: presse@denic.de
Scott Behles
Hill & Knowlton for DENIC
Tel. +1-212-885-0354
e-mail: sbehles@hillandknowlton.comContact:
Dr. Klaus Herzig of DENIC, +49-69-27-235-168, presse@denic.de; Scott
Behles of Hill & Knowlton, +1-212-885-0354,
sbehles@hillandknowlton.com, for DENIC