Type: GmbH (limited liability - Germany)
Industry: Internet, Domain names
Founded: 1998
Headquarters: In the Upper Plant 1

66386 St. Ingbert

Country: Germany
Products: DomainDiscount24, RRPproxy, BrandShelter
Employees: 54 (2010)
Website: http://key-systems.net/
Key People
Alexander Siffrin (CEO/ CTO)

Thorsten Smeets (Dir. Registry Relations)
Bonnie Wittenburg (EVP, US)
Jessica Pfeiffer, Mktg / HR
Volker Greimann, General Counsel
Erik Alles, Acct Mgr
Andreas Soll, Prod Mgr

Key-Systems, is a domain names distributor and management company. It was founded in 1998 by Alexander Siffrin and received it's accreditation from ICANN as an official registrar in October 2000. This Germany based company has subsidiaries in the USA and Mexico and provides services to its end customers resellers through its three domain portals named RRPproxy.net, BrandShelter.com and domaindiscount24.com. [1]

As of November 2010, Key-Systems has over 1,620,000 domains under its management.[2] The company currently holds the second place among the leading registrars for global Top Level Domains (gTLDs) in Europe[3] On a global scale, Key-Systems is ranked as the 12th Largest ICANN Registrars of the world [4] .


History edit

In 1998, Alexander Siffrin founded Key-Systems GbR (Gesellschaft bürgerlichen Rechts), A civil law partnership company, in Friedrichsthal, Germany. Key-Systems GbR was turned into a limited liability company Key-Systems GmbH (Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung) in 2000. [5]

In 2000, Key-Systems launched domaindiscount24.com (dd24), the domain portal for end customers. On November 10, 2000, ICANN accounded that Key-Systems GmbH d/b/a domaindiscount24.com had qualified to be accredited as domain name registrars in the .com, .net and .org domains. [6]

In 2001, Key-Systems launched its reseller portal RRPproxy.net. Key-Systems joined DENIC, the cooperative for the administration of the German domain ending .DE, in the same year. Key-Systems also Participated at the first meeting and the follow-ups for the implementation of a domain .EU for Europe during 2001.

Key-Systems participated in VeriSign's IDN testbed in 20002. By 2002, Key-Systems started to provide than 60 different domain name registration.

In 2004, the company was relocated from Bexbach to Zweibrücken.

In 2007, Key-Systems Took-over of the former VeriSign Namestore System migrating more than 200,000 domains to the RRPproxy platform.

In October 2008, Key-Systems invested in software developer company Avarteq [7]. In July 2009, Key-Systems invested in DevKey Domain Management Solutions buying 49% of its share. [8]

In 2009, Key-Systems founded its US subsidiary in Virginia, Washington Metro area and Bonnie Wittenburg was announced as the new Executive Vice President for Key-Systems USA, Inc. [9]

In 2010, Key-Systems took over the majority of AZ.pl, a Polish domain registrar company. [10]

Key-Systems was ranked 411 in the "2009 Deloitte Technology Fast 500 EMEA Ranking and CEO Survey".[11] In 2009 Key-Systems opened new branches in The US[12] and Mexico.[13] Is an official member of DENIC[14] the registry of the country code Top-Level-Domain .DE for Germany (Deutschland).

DomainDiscount24 (dd24) edit

domaindiscount24.net (dd24.de) is a fully automated domain registration portal, including web- and mailspace offers. It is available in five different languages, targeting at retail customers.

RRPproxy edit

RRPproxy.net is especially attractive for domain-resellers of both gTLD and ccTLD domain names. ICANN accredited registrars and other Internet Service Provider can register domains through a comprehensive WebInterface, Direct-Socket-Access, Email-Template or by installing our cutting edge API (one API for all Domains).

BrandShelter edit

BrandShelter.com helps to manage and monitor huge domain portfolios. A special dotBrand unit supports in planning, executing and operating the TLD. Through partnerships with industry leaders, the BrandShelter division (with an office in the United States as well) offers support in understanding TLD opportunities, determining which name(s) to pursue, and submitting and tracking applications with ICANN.

References edit

  1. Wide PR.com
  2. [1,620,767 Web Hosting Info.com]
  3. PR.com
  4. Web Hosting Info.com
  5. Key-Systems.net
  6. ICANN.org
  7. Open PR.com
  8. PR.com
  9. Free Press Release
  10. PR Inside
  11. "2009 Deloitte Technology Fast 500 EMEA Ranking and CEO Survey" Deloitte Retrieved September 26, 2010.
  12. "Key-Systems with new US branch" Fresh Press Release Retrieved September 26, 2010.
  13. "Key-Systems Establishes Latin American Presence with Office in Mexico" Web Host Industry Review Retrieved September 26, 2010.
  14. "List of DENIC Members" DENIC.de Retrieved September 26, 2010.

External Links edit