SIDN,the company behind .nl domain releases its annual report for 2011.2011 was a positive years for SIDN despite the difficult economic climate.
You can read the press release after the jump:" Last year, the .nl domain grew more than ever before. Despite the difficult economic climate, 2011 was a positive year for the Dutch internet domain. A net increase of 607,265 domain names was achieved, consolidating SIDN’s market share of 72% and its third position in the global league table of more than 250 country-code domains. These are among the headlines of the annual report that SIDN is presenting today at www.sidn.nl.
A year of highlights
For SIDN, 2011 was a special year in various ways. The registry celebrated not only its own fifteenth ‘birthday’, but also the silver jubilee of the .nl domain. SIDN reflected on twenty-five years of the internet in the Netherlands with a jubilee website, www.de25jaarvan.nl, and a jubilee magazine. At the ‘25 Years of .nl’ congress, however, the focus was on the future. Heading an impressive list of contributors, visionary Kevin Kelly talked to delegates about the role of the internet in our daily lives, both now and in years to come.
Proven success
“In terms of growth, 2011 was the most successful year in the history of .nl, with the number of domain names rapidly approaching five million. This success is partly down to the breadth and intensity of internet use in the Netherlands. It also has a lot to do with .nl being one of the most
secure internet domains in the world,” said Roelof Meijer, SIDN’s CEO. “Another factor is that it’s much easier and cheaper to get a .nl domain name than to get a domain name with a lot of other country-code extensions. What’s more, we have more than 1,800 registrars, meaning that anyone who wants a .nl domain name has plenty of choice in terms of where to go to register the name and where to go for related services. A conscious decision was taken early in our domain’s existence to market domain names indirectly, through registrars. That model has always formed the basis of .nl’s success, so it’s a model we have no intention of changing.”
Security
In 2012, SIDN will continue working to improve the reliability of the internet in general and the .nl domain in particular. Meijer: “One of the things we’ll be doing is upgrading our domain name registration system to support DNSSEC. We’ll also be investing in research and innovation. For example, we’re linking up with TNO, Radboud University and Tilburg University to operate the PI.Lab, which will research ways of protecting online privacy and electronic identities.”