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  • The details registered about me/my company are incorrect or out of date.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

"No reason to be nervous about implementing e-mail security standards"

  • Wednesday 21 November 2018

In July 2018, we added an e-mail security incentive to the Registrar Scorecard (RSC). The aim was to boost the adoption of standards such as SPF, DKIM, DMARC and STARTTLS. In support of that goal, we also organised SIDN Academy sessions on the use of e-mail standards, and held a practical workshop for registrars. One registrar that decided to have a go at upping their e-mail security score and earning a good incentive payment was QDC Internetservices. QDC's Support Manager Dave Fredriksz has been talking to us about how the firm went about it.

E-mail security standards in a nutshell

Dave Fredriksz
Dave Fredriksz

DKIM, SPF and DMARC are standards that protect against phishing, spam and virus/malware distribution by securing the contents and various attributes of e-mail messages. Enabling the standards involves adding records to the domain name's DNS details. Read more

Increasing adoption

Since the incentive was introduced, we've seen more SPF, DKIM and DMARC records linked to .nl domain names, and the quality of the records has improved. Mail traffic within .nl is therefore more secure, and the phishing and spam threats have been mitigated. While SPF was already in fairly widespread use, DMARC in particular has really taken off. That's welcome news, because DMARC has the effect of reinforcing SPF and DKIM. The real benefit comes when the three standards are used together (in combination with STARTTLS, of course). One registrar that has significantly grown the number of DMARC records in their portfolio is QDC Internetservices. QDC's Support Manager Dave Fredriksz has been telling us how.

Rollout completed inside two weeks

Dave: "The SIDN Academy was the trigger to get us working with e-mail standards. Two members of our team came back from the Academy session and said, 'This is something we've really got to do.' After that, it took us less than two weeks to enable the standards for almost all the .nl domain names in our portfolio. For convenience, we did all our .eu and .be domains as well. Once the implementation was complete, we informed our clients. In our eyes, enabling the standards is integral to customer service, not a billable extra. Clients are often unaware of the risks, so we think this is something we should take care of for them."

Nothing to worry about

Dave continues: "Beforehand, we were worried that implementing SPF, DKIM and DMARC might result in some e-mail not getting delivered. But, as it turned out, everything was fine. We initially used the 'p=none' setting in DMARC, so we were able to see that our customers' outgoing mail wasn't going to be bounced by mistake."

Next step: applying a stricter policy

We asked SIDN's Technical Advisor Marco Davids to take a look at QDC's set-up. "By creating DMARC records with 'p=none' for most of their domains, QDC kept everything as it was, while getting feedback from receiving mail servers," says Marco. "The reports sent back by the receiving servers provided a picture of the mail flows associated with clients' domains. The challenge for QDC and its clients is now to analyse the mail flows and to think how that can be translated into stricter mail policies."

Automatic alerts

"We've now set things up so that an alert is automatically generated if a DMARC record isn't working," Dave explains. Our internal system is designed so that, when an issue is flagged up, anyone here at QDC can deal with it, including non-technical personnel. The message I'd like to pass on to other registrars is that they shouldn't be nervous about implementing e-mail security standards. There's really nothing to worry about."