Future domain

The Internet has undergone a tremendous development over the last 10 years. Broadband and blogs were largely absent at the time. No one knew Google. The Internet was not the center of attention - it was the PC and the CD-ROM! Today, the Internet is the focal point of IT development, a major contributor to globalization, the cause of new flexible work arrangements and the centre of a democratic user revolution. And we are still in the Internet's absolute childhood!

Therefore, the Internet's transportational infrastructure – the domains – is an important development platform. It is essential that Denmark is at the forefront, pushing the development and helping shape it. So, Denmark had a Domain Act in 2005 and after 9 years with the same setup, the administration of the Danish domains was put up for tender. dotDK chose to joined the game and at the end of June we got a letter from the IT and Telecom: "dotDK has won", it said.

In spite of summer vacation, we in dotDK have gathered representatives of the Danish Internet community to help start the association dotDK that will govern the future of Danish domains. We must now begin the job of writing statutes, mission and have the founding General Assembly. We would like to have as many as possible join, so here is just a recap of what dotDK is and stands for:

Who is dotDK?
We are so far a handful of people who have dealt with the technological forefront most of our working lives. We fully believe that Denmark belong in an international context, and that one of the key strengths of the Internet is the opportunity to democratise developments and give control to the users. Our technological platform is carried out by technology supplier Afilias, which is one of the world's best in registry services and among others technological supplier for .org, .info and a number of countries’ domains. But in reality, we are only voluntary start up helpers. dotDK shall be an open association for the Internet community, through which all can influence the administration of the Danish domain. Because the internet community really includes everybody and no one should be excluded.

What does dotDK do?
dotDK has committed itself to a number of key areas. Some areas have been strengthened to comply with input from the Internet community.

New technology
The transition to dotDK is the transition to new, state of the art technology. It will require hard work but will be worth it in the long run. The new technology (shared registry) will bring automations of a wide range of manual processes and greater ease of use for those who buy a domain who now only need to have contacts in one place - the place they bought the domain. The technology will be upgraded to the leading international, technological standards. Afilias will provide this. The domain .dk should always be able to deliver internationally leading solutions.

Cheaper prices
For those who sell domains (the registrars), prices will be 11% cheaper - a price which is a guaranteed maximum price in the period to the next time the administration is up for tender. This is partly because of automations and a simpler process, partly to compensate for the any inconvenience registrars may experience in transition. For those who buy domains (registrants), prices also be likely to be lower, but this is decided by the market forces. One registrar (gratisDNS), which handles more than 100000 . dkdomains has already announced that the price will not rise.

Free competition
The dotDK model is the introduction of a free market for the .dk domain. This means that it will be much cheaper and easier to obtain the status of registrar, the competition will be intensified, and there will be more entrepreneurs on the web and domain field. At the same time, it will always be possible as a buyer to see what you pay for - dotDK's prices in relation to the registrar will always appear on dotDK’s website. Afilias also ensures that as registrant freely and without any major problems can move its domains from one registrar to another within 24 hours.

Enhanced Security
On the Internet knows no geographical boundaries crime. Therefore, it is increasingly important to be able to transfer international experience from one moment to the next. dotDK’s technological platform from Afilias spans an international network of security experts and systems that can implement the best possible security measures as soon as possible and ensure the Danish domains. Cyber crime is increasingly targeting domains, such as phishing, typo-squatting, "the Kaminsky bug".

For the users
For the domain sellers (registrars) the transition means a much more automated process and optimised user interface, which is the result of years of international experience. Registrants need in future only to contact one place and can better focus on services such as hosting, mail etc. Users generally will benefit from the resources that are to be channelled back into the Internet.

Openness
dotDK is an open association, all who wishes to can join. So far, we have just not had so much to be open about - that is the point of user involvement that as many as possible to help write the statutes, determine the objects etc . Our draft foundation is in our statements on the website http://www.dotdkregistry.dk .

.dk as the future domain
More and more, it is important to involve the community in the future possibilities of the Internet. dotDK as the broadest possible internet society should be an obvious place to carry out the wide interest in bringing technology development closer for developers, entrepreneurs, and for all. This is dotDK ‘s vision do that by channelling funds for activities, initiatives and facilities, which increases the spread of the possibilities of the Internet and ICT. The final operating guidelines will be provided by the internet community and the Governing body.

Internationally Danish
The Internet is much less geographically confined than the real world and was conceived as an international phenomenon. Therefore, dotDK engage strongly in international domain issues and represent .dk’s interests through bodies such as ICANN ccNSO, IANA, ISOC, the IETF, APWG and CERTs. And therefore, is dotDK’s technological partner an international company (Afilias).

What’s next?
IT and Telestyrelsen’s decision to the hand the administration of the Danish domain over dotDK apply for a period of 6 years. After that, there will be a new tender. If you want to make sure your voice is heard, there is still time to become member of dotDK.

dotDK has required much work, and there is more work ahead. Renewal will always come with a lot of challenges. And will always be worth the trouble.

For questions, forms for membership or anything else, you are welcome to contact one of dotDK-founders listed below:

Kim V. Andersen: kandersen@dotdkregistry.dk

Tor Bloch: tbloch@dotdkregistry.dk

Mads Thimmer, mthimmer@dotdkregistry.dk

Nikolaj Nyholm: nnyholm@dotdkregistry.dk

Roland LaPlante(Afilias): rlaplante@dotdkregistry.dk