Tag Archives: DNS.BE

Cybersecurity

DNS.be Information Campaign Commences

DNS BE logoDNS.be, the .BE registry, commenced the next stage of its information campaign on 5 September. Its 2010 campaign was targeted at the Belgian self-employed and small SMEs. Now they are zooming in on a more specific section of this target audience: professions and intellectuals. Our aim is to convince them that having a presence online is extremely important for them too.

During September and October the campaign will run in the Belgian media in the two major local languages (French and Dutch), as well as via a number of partners: (FVIB & Unizo + Unplib & UCM).

The campaign will see:

  • a TV commercial in the General Messages segment on both Flemish and Walloon broadcasters.
  • print ads in the specialist journals aimed at the medical professions.
  • via our partners by way of banners, a mailing featuring the commercial, advertisements, articles, etc.

Europe Registry logoTo register your .BE domain name, check out Europe Registry here.

Cybersecurity

Record Number of New .BE Registrations: DNS.be Annual Report

DNS BE logoAfter a relatively modest increase in new registrations in 2009 at the height of the global financial crisis, new .BE registrations rebounded strongly in 2010 with another record in the number of new registrations according to the 2010 annual report. There were more than 257,000 new .BE registrations in 2010, almost ten per cent better than in the previous year.

Renewal numbers were also very good in 2010 with an 83 per cent renewal rate of existing .BE domain names, ranking in the top five globally.

The growth in active domain names was nearly 13 per cent in 2010, meaning that 2010 was the year in which the magic mark of 1,000,000 domain names was passed. At the end of June 2011 there were 1,156,953 .BE domains registered.

DNS.be also did some research into why .BE domain names are registered. The findings were broadly similar to previous years with over three quarters (77%, 77.7% in 2009) of registrants linking an email address to the domain and a website in 84.3% of cases (82.3% in 2009).

The registry found that only 12.2 per cent of registrations are defensive (and hence is not linked to either an email address or a website) compared to 12.4 per cent in 2009. In recent years DNS.be have seen a fall in that percentage. The registry considers this a positive change because it means a larger number of domain names are being used more actively.

Most registrants have only one domain name registered, with over three quarters (435,794 – 78%) of registrants having just one domain name. 64,868 (12%) registrants registered two domain names while the average registrant has 1.96 domain names.

In other news in 2010, security was increased with a new procedure was introduced in July 2010 that ensures tighter checks are made on all new registrations. This will result in higher quality of whois data. At the same time, these new checks make it more difficult for fraud and other illicit practices to gain a foothold. Greater security in the .BE zone is also a particular focus in the registry’s objectives for 2011.

For 2011, one of the key developments will be the replacement of all of the hardware on the registration platform, including a number of network connections. This will enhance the performance and availability of the platform.

It will also mean an optimisation of costs for DNS.be over time. DNS.be are integrating some of their name servers as part of anycast clouds, while a number of European locations will receive new equipment.

The DNS.be 2010 Annual Report contains a lot more statistics and information on .BE domain names. To download the report in full, see www.dns.be/pdf/Annual_Report_en_2010.pdf.

Europe Registry logoTo register your .BE domain name, check out Europe Registry here.

Cybersecurity

New Terms And Conditions For .BE Domains

DNS BE logoThe Belgian registry has finalised a new version of its terms and conditions for .BE domain names that take effect from 14 June.

The main change is for transfers, with the new policy stating in part six that:
c) If a registrant wishes to move the domain name to a new registrar, the new transfer procedure, as mentioned below, applies. The registrant contacts the registrar to whom he whishes to transfer the domain name and asks him to apply for a transfer code to DNS.be. DNS.be sents the transfer code to the e- mail address of the registrant, as mentioned in the DNS.be database. The registrant delivers this code to his new registrar who will initiate the transfer by using this code. The internal application of DNS.be checks if the given transfer code matches with the domain name for which the transfer was initiated. If this match checks out, the transfer will be executed. The transfer code will be valid for 7 calendar days.
d) When a registrant wants to transfer a domain name to a third party, the latter must ask his registrar to start the procedure described in item c) of this article with the transfer code that this third party received from the registrant. The successful execution of the procedures described in items c) and d) of this article means that a new registration period is started for the concerned domain names and implies payment of the original registration fee as specified in article 4 a). No reimbursement of fees paid for the initial registration period shall be made.

More information and the complete new terms and conditions is available from dns.be.

Europe Registry logoTo register your .BE domain name, check out Europe Registry here.

Domain Name Registrants, Domain Name Registrars, Domain Name Registry

DNS.be scores highly amongst registrars

DNS BE logo[news release] For the fourth successive year, DNS.be conducted a satisfaction survey amongst its registrars, the network of 470 companies that register .be domain names worldwide. DNS.be again scores higher than its colleagues of the surrounding countries like .nl and .fr.

The aim of this survey is to improve the service to registrars even further and to comply with their wishes and requirements.

As part of the survey, the registrars were able to make comments and provide suggestions while allocating a satisfaction rating to the various departments at DNS.be: administration, the technical team, the legal department and communication.

The survey showed that registrars gave DNS.be an outstanding score of 8.4/10, the same as in 2009.

DNS.be contacted all of its national and international registrars by e-mail. 123 of the 470 registrars completed the questionnaire in full. These 123 registrars represent approximately 22.4% of the total number of domain names. We sorted the registrars by language, length of time working with DNS.be and the size of the portfolio of domain names that they manage. The survey was conducted in three languages by means of an electronic questionnaire. The scores were impressive and confirm the fact that DNS.be continues to enjoy a good reputation among registrars.

The questionnaire contained 4 questions relating to registrar satisfaction about a number of DNS.be services. The registrars scored these areas as follows:

  • Mission of DNS.be: 8.7/10
  • The web interface for the registration system: 8.4/10
  • The automatic interface of the registration system (EPP): 8/10

The changes we have made to the registration system: 7.8/10

A second section of the questionnaire examined the quality of registrar contacts with DNS.be staff. The average scores that registrars gave the various departments were as follows:

  • Administrative services: 8.5/10
  • Technical services: 8.6/10
  • Legal services: 8.3/10

For the external communication provided by DNS.be, the registrars gave an average score of 7.3/10. In particular, the registrars appreciate the content of the newsletters.

This year, we added a question to compare the quality of .be with other registries (TLDs). Our registrars gave the following scores to our fellow TLDs:

Asking what DNS.be could learn from the other extensions we received very positive feedback. Responses show that most registrars consider .be to be an example for other registries, which makes us proud and motivates us to continue the same way. In the satisfaction survey of SIDN, our Dutch colleagues, as well, DNS.be appeared to have received the highest satisfaction rate of all TLDs concerned.

Finally, this satisfaction survey shows that DNS.be scored highly from every point of view. Our registrars are happy with us and consider DNS.be to be a very professional partner.

This DNS.BE news release was sourced from, and is available with graphs at www.dns.be/pdf/Pressrelease_en_20110329.pdf

Europe Registry logoTo register your .BE domain name, check out Europe Registry here.

Domain Name Registrants, Domain Name Registrars, Domain Name Registry

DNS BE Warns Registrants to Watch Out For False Online Business Directories

DNS BE logoDNS BE have advised they have received several complaints of Belgian business and organisations that own a domain name. They receive letters asking them to pass on their company and website details, or to check the details provided. Finally they are asked to sign and send the letter back to the sender so that these details can be included in an online business directory.

In their letters, examples of which are provided via the link below, the internet registers or directories use visual and copy elements that could easily be mistaken as being associated with official directory and/or Internet providers in Belgium.

Those companies/organisations that fill in the details in the letter, then sign and send it back to the sender do so assuming that they are dealing with an official Belgian organisation. In actual fact, though, they are signing a purchase order for their details to be included in one or other online business “directory”. Having signed on the dotted line, as it were, they then receive an invoice and/or bank transfer request for the cost of including their details in the directory.

DNS BE is advising individuals or businesses that receive letters or registration forms of this kind to go through them very carefully before sending back the signed form. Also, if they have any questions about the management of their domain name, they should always get in contact with their accredited, genuinely official, DNS BE registrar. A list of the registrars can be found on the DNS BE website at www.dns.be.

These illegitimate business practices have happened in the past and an overview can be found via the original DNS BE news release here – www.dns.be/en/home.php?n=448.

Europe Registry logoTo register your .BE domain name, check out Europe Registry here.

Domain Name Registry

New General Manager for DNS.BE

DNS BE logoDNS.BE announced last week that Philip Du Bois is the new General Manager of DNS.BE. A news release from DNS.BE on the appointment is below.

New General Manager for DNS.BE
Philip Du Bois yesterday took up his position as General Manager of DNS.be. He takes over the job from Jo Van Gorp, who was appointed manager ad interim after the departure of Marc Van Wesemael in October 2009.

“Philip Du Bois was chosen to be the best candidate by the recruiting office Russell Reynolds as well as by the Board of Directors and the Strategic Committee”, explains Piet Spiessens, President of the Board of Directors. “It was particularly his experience in various fields, his fresh ideas on DNS.be, his fluent communication style and his experience in the ICT sector that convinced us.”

Philip Du Bois is 38 years old, studied for commercial engineer, and was active as Advisor in telecom matters at the Kabinet of Minister Van Quickenborne. Before that he also worked for Belgacom, Versatel, Telenet and Digital Equipment.

“The coming months and years are expected to be challenging for DNS.be viewing technical and commercial opportunities such as DNSsec and IPv6”, says Philip Du Bois. “The DNS.be team has the technical know-how and developed a firm structure of procedures and methods. I hope to be able to contribute to this strong entity and thus to provide a state-of-the-art service.”

Europe Registry logoTo register your .BE domain name check out Europe Registry here.

Domain Name Registrants, Domain Name Registrars, Domain Name Registry

DNS.BE Announce Release of Blocked Domains

DNS BE logoSince April 2009, DNS BE has blocked almost 200,000 .BE-domain names upon the advice of ICANN. When using the whois, the status ‘blocked’ was shown for these names.

Every three months DNS.BE received an up-to-date list from ICANN containing domain names sighted by the Conficker worm. This list contains mainly new domain names which are not yet registered, nor blocked; a small percentage contains domain names that were already sighted before.

Therefore, DNS BE have decided to unblock all non-registered domain names that figured on earlier Conficker lists but that do not pose a threat anymore. Those domain names will be unblocked this week.

In order to avoid speculation, DNS.BE will never publish a list of these domain names.

Europe Registry logoTo register your .BE domain name, check out Europe Registry here.

Domain Name Registrants, Domain Name Registrars, Domain Name Registry

DNS.BE Passes One Million Domain Name Registrations After Another Record Year in 2009

A record number of domain name registrations in 2009 have led to the registration of the one millionth .BE domain name last weekend.DNS.BE announced that 2009 ended with a total of almost 978,000 domain names, a net growth of almost 14 per cent for the year. The financial and economic crisis has clearly not stopped Belgians from registering domain names, especially since 70 per cent of registrants were located in Belgium.”The positive trend we saw in 2009 is clearly continuing this year as well. In January of this year we registered more than 24,000 new .BE domain names, which is noticeably more than in the same month in previous years,” said DNS.BE eneral manager Jo Van Gorp.”The 1 millionth domain name is the result of the excellent reputation the .be domain has built up over the years, the enthusiasm and dedication of our employees providing DNS BE’s high-quality and innovative services, and our registrars’ strong campaigns.”The registrant of the one millionth domain name, Erwin Boekee, will have his registration fee paid for 25 years.The record number of new registrations in 2009 of 232,746 domains was the sixth year in a row where a record number of new .BE domain names were registered. The increase was 4.4 per cent more than in 2008, when 222,919 new domain names were registered.And the year saw a total increase of 118,524 compared with the year before. This number represents net growth of 13.8 per cent, a slight drop on the 2008 increase of 16.7 per cent. But as DNS.BE nots, this decline is a logical evolution for the net growth: the more the total number of domain names rises, the smaller the net growth in percentage terms.There has also been a noticeable increase in Belgian individuals registering .BE domain names. In 2008, the percentage was only 30 per cent, whereas in 2009 that figure rose to 34 per cent of the total number of Belgian domain names.”We are delighted with the way this trend is developing,” said Mr Van Gorp. “The way we see it, there are significant benefits associated with having your own domain name.”Because users create their own email addresses, they can easily switch from one Internet provider to another without having to miss out on a single email. It also means that when they make a change, there’s no need to notify all of their contacts of their new email address, because it stays the same, regardless of the provider.”To register your .BE domain name, check out Europe Registry here.