Stichting Internet Domeinregistratie Nederland
 | |
| Type: | Non-Profit |
| Industry: | Registry |
| Founded: | April 25, 1996 |
| Founder(s): | Piet Beertema |
| Headquarters: | Meander 501 6825 MD Arnhem |
| Country: | Netherlands |
| Employees: | 51-200 |
| Email: | support[at]sidn.nl, info[at]sidn.nl |
| Website: | SIDN |
| LinkedIn: | SIDN |
| Key People | |
| Roelof Meijer, CEO | |
Stichting Internet Domeinregistratie Nederland or SIDN (Netherlands Domain Registration Foundation) is the national manager of the Dutch ccTLD and provides registry services in Netherlands for .nl domains. It is ICANN accredited and is responsible for issuing all Dutch domain names. It has around 1,100 registrars and ISPs operating under it.[1]
.nl is the fourth largest ccTLD in the world, after China, Germany and the UK. In 2024 we registrated around 6.2 million .nl domain names
ICANN signed the Accountability Framework for the .nl TLD with SIDN in 2007.[2] SIDN is a member of ICANN's ccNSO.[3]
.nl Domain Names[edit | edit source]
If you type a domain name into your browser, we make sure that you are directed to the right website. If you send an e-mail, we make sure that it's delivered to the right mailbox. And it's thanks to us that the .nl domain is stable. We register .nl domain names and make it possible to reach the 6-million-plus registered domain names on the internet. Every day, our systems process more than 4.5 billion search queries.
Cybersecurity[edit | edit source]
Cybersecurity is of course essentional in our business, preventing abuse to keep .nl secure. Read more about our security approach on sidn.nl. We promote the adoption of modern internet standards, such as IPv6 and DNSSEC, which make the internet more trustworthy and enable continued growth. We also have a a service for online brand protection: SIDN BrandGuard. The tool provides an overview of all your own registered domain names and shows which partners are using your brand. Rapid alert allows you to take immediate action. This prevents your brand from being abused for phishing, mail fraud, CEO fraud or identity fraud. By fighting fraud immediately, you prevent reputation damage and high costs caused by abuse.
Registry services[edit | edit source]
We provide registry services for other top-level domains, including .politie, .aw (Aruba's domain) and .amsterdam. We also have a partnership with CIRA to build a new registry platform based on CIRA’s Fury Registry Platform, which is a next-generation TLD management platform with the features and functionality designed for the modern TLD business.
Our history begins in the eighties[edit | edit source]
Our backstory begins in the 1980s. The internet was new, and it needed a system for assigning domain names. Because to begin with every internet user had a list of all the others, showing each one's internet address. Those addresses weren't like the ones we use now: they were just numbers. As the number of addresses increased, it became hard for users to keep their lists up to date. The solution was the Domain Name System (DNS), which enables people to reach each other using names instead of numbers. For example, SIDN.nl instead of 212.114.98.237.
Piet Beertema, the man behind .nl[edit | edit source]
Piet Beertema was system manager at the National Research Institute for Mathematics and Computer Science (CWI). He had the great idea of asking for the Netherlands to have its own the top-level domain: .nl. He put the idea to Jon Postel, a US internet pioneer. Jon approved Piet's request and .nl was created. On 1 May 1986, the CWI registered the first .nl domain name: cwi.nl. So .nl was the first active country-code domain outside the US. And to this day, Piet is still the registrant of godfatherof.nl.
Listen to the podcast 'silent big bang (in Dutch)
The start of SIDN[edit | edit source]
In the 1990s, the internet grew rapidly, and so did the number of users. Registering all their domain names soon became a big job. Big enough to justify setting up a national foundation to do it: the Foundation for Internet Domain Registration in the Netherlands (SIDN). The people behind the new foundation were Piet Beertema, Ted Lindgreen and Boudewijn Nederkoorn. We took over responsibility for registering .nl domain names on 31 January 1996.
Listen to the podcast 'the early years' (in Dutch)
Explosive growth[edit | edit source]
Since 2003, anyone has been allowed to register a .nl domain name. No matter where you are and whether you're a business or a private individual. Our first CEO, Hans Kraaijenbrink, worked hard to get that reform, finally succeeding in the year of his death. After that, .nl grew enormously, reaching a million names in the same year. Today, there are more than 6 million names, making .nl the fifth largest country-code domain in the world. For more facts and figures, visit our statistics page.
Listen to the podcast 'explosive growth' (in Dutch)
Milestones[edit | edit source]
| When? | What? |
|---|---|
| 2023-11 | CIRA and SIDN agree on partnership to build new registry platform |
| 2023-04 | Introduction of the new identity wallet: Yivi |
| 2021-04 | .nl exists 35 years |
| 2021-01 | SIDN 25 years at the heart of the internet |
| 2020-06 | 6 million .nl domain names registered |
| 2020-03 | Majority stake in Connectis sold |
| 2019-11 | SIDN launches user-friendly security solution for SMEs, CyberSterk |
| 2019-11 | 5.9 million .nl domain names registered |
| 2019-11 | The Internet celebrates its 50 year anniversary |
| 2019-09 | SIDN and Privacy by Design join forces for privacy-friendly electronic identities based on IRMA |
| 2017-12 | 5.8 million .nl domain names registered |
| 2017-02 | 5.7 million .nl domain names registered |
| 2017-01 | Majority stake in Connectis |
| 2016-04 | .nl domain celebrates its 30 year anniversary |
| 2016-04 | 5.6 million .nl domain names registered |
| 2015-02 | SIDN becomes registry service provider for .amsterdam |
| 2014-09 | 5.5 million .nl domain names registered |
| 2014-05 | Foundation of SIDN Fund |
| 2014-04 | SIDN becomes registry service provider for .aw (Aruba) |
| 2013-05 | 1.5 million .nl domain names secured with DNSSEC |
| 2012-09 | 5 million .nl domain names registered |
| 2012-08 | Protection of .nl domain names using DNSSEC becomes possible |
| 2011-11 | .nl domain celebrates its silver jubilee |
| 2008-06 | Covenant with the Dutch government assures .nl's future |
| 2003-06 | 1 million .nl domain names registered |
| 2000-11 | Registration of the first third-level domain name: jansen.123.nl |
| 1996-01 | Foundation of SIDN |
| 1986-05 | Registration of the first .nl domain name: cwi.nl |
| 1986-04 | .nl the first active ccTLD in the world due to Piet Beertema |
Our organisation[edit | edit source]
SIDN is not a commercial enterprise. We are professional and businesslike, but with a view to maximising the value we create for the community and economy of the Netherlands. We use the earnings from new products to reinforce the position of the .nl domain, to promote growth in the field of cybersecurity and online identity, and to invest in the Dutch and international internet communities. Those goals are pursued through the operations of SIDN Labs and SIDN Fund, for example. A total of about 110 people work SIDN, SIDN Labs and SIDN Fund at our modern and colourful office complex in Arnhem.
Board of Directors[edit | edit source]
SIDN's board of directors consists of CEO Roelof Meijer and CTO Loek Bakker.
Supervisory Board[edit | edit source]
The Supervisory Board (SB) oversees the management's policies and the general situation at SIDN. The SB also gives the management advice.
External Links[edit | edit source]
SIDN Annual Reports
SIDN News
ICANN Accountability Framework with SIDN
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ SIDN, CENTR.org. Retrieved 2015 August 10.
- ↑ web-hosting-top
- ↑ Budget 2012 email thread, Forum.ICANN.org