OpenRegistry

Industry:	Internet/Information Technology
Headquarters:	Luxembourg
Country:	Belgium
Website:	OpenRegistry.com
Facebook:	OpenRegistry
Twitter:	@OpenRegistry
Key People
Hans Seeuws, CEO Jan Jansen, Technical Director Geert Debyser, Development

OpenRegistry provides back-end technology solutions for registrars, such as new generic top level domain names (gTLD) registration systems, and DNSSEC solutions. The company is based in Luxembourg and Belgium.

The company was founded by Jan Jansen, Geert Debyser and Hans Seeuws, who became part of the successful creation and operation of the .be and .eu registries. Jean-Christophe Vignes was co-founder and the first CEO of the Company. OpenRegistry is also involved in the development of policies for various country code top level domains (ccTLDs), such as .fr, .tm, .ac, .sh, and .io.

The company claims that its staffs has 20 years of experience in providing management solutions for registrars and TLD managers.

Some of its new gTLD operations are being handled under the name Sensirius.

Solutions

The company offers the following services:

• Consultancy services for entities that wish to apply for new gTLDs with ICANN, starting with feasibility studies, identifying operational and business criteria, marketing and technical requirements, legal assistance, implementation and launch, and continuous assistance.
• OpenRegistry Software- The company offers flexibility, security, stability, trademark and data protection for its clients. The OpenRegistry Software offers the following features:
  • Capable of supporting non-latin domains, IPv6, and DNSSEC
  • It has all the technical functions required by ICANN
  • 100% free and open source database system (PostGres)
  • Hosted, licenced or managed models
  • It complies with RFCs for registration, resolution, and Whois information
  • It offers more 270 configuration options, to meet any and all policy or technical needs
  • Built-in rights protection mechanisms
  • Multi-currency
  • Real-time information on the demographics of each web site’s visitors

OpenRegistry and ICANN

OpenRegistry is an active participant in the activities and meetings of ICANN. During the ICANN 39 meeting at Cartagena De Indias, OpenRegistry announced the launching of its fully flexible and licensable new gTLD solutions. Jan Jansen, CEO of the company, explained that the software is open and can be edited to exactly meet the needs of its clients. At the ICANN 40 meeting in San Francisco, OpenRegistry and SX Registry SA jointly announced that both companies will manage and operate the .sx ccTLD for Sint Maarten. According to OpenRegistry CEO Jean-Christophe Vignes, the company will develop domain name registration policies for .sx and have already assigned the ClearingHouse for Intellectual Property (CHIP) to provide security and protection for the start-up of the ccTLD.

The company also expressed its support to the recent decision of the ICANN Board during its special meeting at ICANN 41 in Singapore to introduce new gTLDs.

New gTLD Services

It was noted in April, 2012, before the application period for ICANN's new gTLD program closed, that OpenRegistry had been contracted by some 15 clients to provide the technical registry backend services for over 20 new gTLD applications. At that time, it was known that these included Deloitte (.deloitte), KPN Telecom (.kpn), LPL Financial (.lpl), and the city of Ghent (.gent). A major American city and some generic terms were also associated with OpenRegistry.

Acquisition by NCC Group

On January 20th 2015 NCC Group announced the acquisition of the OpenRegistry group of companies.

Country code top-level domain