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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  • The details registered about me/my company are incorrect or out of date.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

Information about the reintroduction of .co.nl by CO NL B.V.

  • Thursday 21 January 2016

The Dutch company CO NL B.V. recently announced that it was going to restart selling subdomain labels under the domain name co.nl. The linked news report incorrectly uses the term 'extension', when co.nl is in fact merely a domain name. The sale of co.nl subdomain labels first began in 2008. At that time, we received enquiries from a significant number of .nl registrars and registrants. The latest announcement has prompted fresh enquiries, so we felt it best to address the key questions by publishing of this information message.

SIDN not associated with the sale of subdomains under co.nl

The most important thing to be aware of is that SIDN, the registry for the .nl domain, is not involved in the sale of subdomain labels under co.nl. Co.nl is therefore quite different from, for example, co.uk, which is an extension option offered by the UK's country-code domain registry, Nominet. Anyone is entitled to register a domain name directly below .nl and any registrant of a .nl domain is entitled to create subdomains under their registered domain name. For example, Startpagina can create subdomains under startpagina.nl, such as games.startpagina.nl. That is exactly what the registrant of the .nl domain name co.nl is doing. If you register a subdomain label under co.nl, you are not entering into a contract with SIDN. Your agreement is with the registrant of co.nl, who in turn has a contract with SIDN and is therefore bound by SIDN's General Terms and Conditions.

Co.nl subdomain labels are not .nl domain names

Users should also recognise that, when they register a co.nl label, they are NOT registering a .nl domain name. They are buying a service from a company that has registered the .nl domain name co.nl. We advise users to think carefully about how and from whom it is best to obtain DNS services. There are now about a thousand domain name extensions under which domain names can be registered, including the Dutch country-code extension .nl, which is managed by SIDN. All those extensions (known as TLDs) are formally registered with IANA.

Naturally anyone is free to decide against registering a domain name directly below one of the thousand official extensions, and to register a subdomain with an alternative service provider instead. However, we advise registrants to think carefully before acting, not only about the price, but also about the service conditions.