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Frequently asked questions

  • I am looking for a domain name registrant. Where can I look it up?

    The Whois is an easy-to-use tool for checking the availability of a .nl domain name. If the domain name is already taken, you can see who has registered it.

    On the page looking up a domain name you will find more information about what a domain name is, how the Whois works and how the privacy of personal data is protected. Alternatively, you can go straight to look for a domain name via the Whois.

  • I would like to transfer my domain name to another registrar. What is the procedure?

    To get your domain name transferred, you need the token (unique ID number) for your domain name. Your existing registrar has the token and is obliged to give it to you within five days, if you ask for it. The procedure for changing your registrar is described on the page transferring your domain name.

  • The details registered about me/my company are incorrect or out of date. How can I get them updated?

    To update the contact details associated with your domain name, you need to contact your registrar. Read more about updating contact details.

  • Why is my domain name in quarantine?

    When a domain name is cancelled, we aren't told the reason, so we can't tell you. You'll need to ask your registrar. The advantage of quarantine is that, if a name's cancelled by mistake, you can always get it back.

    One common reason is that the contract between you and your registrar says you've got to renew the registration every year. If you haven't set up automatic renewal and you don't renew manually, the registration will expire.

  • Ik heb een klacht over mijn provider/registrar. Kan ik daarvoor bij SIDN terecht?

    Wanneer je een klacht hebt over of een geschil met je registrar dan zijn er verschillende mogelijkheden om tot een oplossing te komen. Hierover lees je meer op pagina klacht over registrar. SIDN heeft geen formele klachtenprocedure voor het behandelen van een klacht over jouw registrar.

  • What conditions do I have to meet as a registrar?

    Would you like to be able to register domain names for customers or for your own organisation by dealing directly with SIDN? If so, you can become a .nl registrar. Read more about the conditions and how to apply for registrar status on the page becoming a registrar.

More frequently asked questions

Domain name detection at TU Delft

New registration alerts and overview are vital

View of the campus of Delft University of Technology, Netherlands with the university logo in life-sized letters in the foreground.
  • Thursday 23 June 2022

Delft University of Technology has been using SIDN BrandGuard for five years. And the university is not alone: many higher education institutes and research centres invest in online monitoring to protect their names and brands against abuse. TU Delft's Information Manager Robin Barbier talks about the added value of domain registration monitoring for the university.

Portrait of Robin Barbier, Information Manager at the Delft University of Technology, Netherlands
Portrait of Robin Barbier, Information Manager at the Delft University of Technology, Netherlands

Why is online security so important for a university?

"As I see it, it's not about the university, but about the brand or reputation. TU Delft is 180 years old, and we have a strong interest in protecting the reputation we've built up in that time. We use BrandGuard to prevent damage to our reputation and our image. Over time, high-profile incidents elsewhere and privacy legislation have made us look more critically at ourselves and at our partners. We're more aware of the risks than we were ten years ago."

And what's your role in managing the risks?

"As Information Manager, I work with a team to manage the application landscape for TU Delft's Communications Directorate. Domain name registrations and website content management figure prominently in our work."

"Regular discussion of the detected domain names has steadily made the process more effective and efficient. The most important piece of advice I would give to another organisation is therefore 'talk to each other'."

How has TU Delft's domain name monitoring process developed?

In the past, we often handled results individually and reactively. However, we felt that we could do things more efficiently, so our Security Manager got us to redesign the monitoring and follow-up process. The main improvement we made was to introduce proactive sharing and discussion of notable registration alerts. Regular discussion of the detected domain names steadily made the process more effective and efficient. The most important piece of advice I would give to another organisation is therefore 'talk to each other'. What do you think of this domain name? Do you reckon it's legit or not? Why? Our Security Team responds immediately only if there's an urgent security threat."

What role does SIDN BrandGuard play?

"SIDN BrandGuard facilitates the process. Getting new registration alerts and being able to maintain an overview are vital. A domain name registration acts as a trigger, prompting us to ask, should we take action or not? Is this a third-party registration that harms our interests? If not, is it desirable from a reputation and brand management viewpoint to have this domain name in use? Not every typo domain or lookalike is a problem. For example, Delft Tennis Centre has a domain name that's very similar to ours: tcdelft.nl. We don't have an issue with that, but it's important to know what other names like that are out there."

As a user, what do you think of SIDN BrandGuard?

I don't have much personal contact with SIDN, because everything goes via our Security Team. The mail service has been fine, but we recently began using the new SIDN BrandGuard interface. The main thing I'd like to see is better logging of previous decisions. Why did we previously decide to take action, or not to take action, in a particular case? Knowing what's been done before can be really useful when assessing a new registration involving a similar name."

"It's about balancing the autonomy of the scientists who work for us and the quality of our internal registration process."

What are the main kinds of domain name you're dealing with?

"They aren't all malicious registrations. We also get registrations made by people who work for or are connected to the university in some way. For example, someone will create a temporary website for a symposium or another event and register a domain name to go with it. In cases like that, we contact the relevant faculty or service and discuss the desirability of the registration. Generally speaking, discussions like that are very amicable. It's about balancing the autonomy of the scientists who work for the university and the quality of our internal registration process."

What are your expectations and wishes for the future?

"I think better integration of domain name monitoring and social media monitoring would be good. The threshold to using a name in the social media is getting lower all the time. A few years ago, for example, we took action against a Facebook group. They were using our name and sharing undesirable content about members of the university community. We knew nothing about it until some students complained to the university's reception desk."

Want to know more about SIDN BrandGuard? Visit sidn.nl or contact our Domain Name Specialist Peter Rotgans by calling +31 630 251 564 or mailing peter.rotgans@sidn.nl.