DENIC will amend its Domain Guidelines with effect from 23 October 2009 and will thus abolish most of the restrictions currently applicable with regard to the registration of second level domains under the TLD .de.
two-digit domains as well as domain names composed exclusively of numerals will be allowed. Additionally, people may reserve domains identical with combinations of letters that are used for German motorvehicle number plates or for Top Level Domains such as "com" or "org". You will now find both the new
and the still valid Domain Guidelines at www.denic.de. The maximum length of a domain will still be 63 characters (referred to the ACE-encoded form of the domain - without .de respectively). The rule that a domain must neither begin nor end with a hyphen nor have hyphens as both its third and fourth characters
will also remain valid. "The amendments will reduce the restrictions imposed on domain registrations to a minimum," says DENIC's Executive Board member Sabine Dolderer (CEO).
Parties interested in a "new" domain may now apply for their desired domain with their Internet service provider. The launch phase for the new domains will start on 23 October 2009 at 9:00 (MEST). To ensure a quick, secure, transparent and above all fair assignment procedure, DENIC will register the new domains applying the "first come, first served" principle. The providers will collect all customer requests until the launch phase starts and hand them in to DENIC electronically on the first day of registration. DENIC
will assign a domain to the first request it receives for it. Assignment in correct order will be guaranteed by an electronic time stamp operating in milliseconds.
For more information check out www.denic.de