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Frequently visited

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  • The details registered about me/my company are incorrect or out of date.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

“The ambition level is high, because we want to retain our elite performance capability”

Marjet van Zuijlen looks back at her first year as Chair of our Supervisory Board

  • Tuesday 14 November 2023

Marjet van Zuijlen succeeded Paul Schnabel as Chair of SIDN's Supervisory Board (SB) on 1 September 2022. She's been talking to us about her first year in the role, and about the challenges facing SIDN as an organisation.

Why did you take on a supervisory role at SIDN?

Portrait photo of Marjet van Zuijlen, member of the supervisory board of SIDN
Marjet van Zuijlen, Chair of SIDN's Supervisory Board

"From 1994 to 2000, I was Spokesperson on Economic Affairs and Telecommunication and Media in the Dutch parliament. It was in that period that the internet – or the 'electronic highway', to use the buzz phrase of the time – began attracting the interest of politicians. Against that backdrop, I wrote a book on new media and politics for the scientific bureau of the Dutch Labour Party. It was called Doodgewoon Digitaal ('Digital as the Norm'). So the development of the internet was a topic that I felt very engaged with. After 2000, I left politics and went into the business world, where I had various roles. Taking the chair of SIDN's Supervisory Board has allowed me to pick up a thread from an earlier phase of my career. It's also given me the opportunity to reconnect with people I knew and had good relations with back then."

How would you characterise your role as Chair of the SB?

"A Supervisory Board is the executive directors' employer, sounding board and supervisor. I monitor the quality of the SB's decision-making processes, and I make sure that everyone feels that they have a say. I also oversee the agenda, in consultation with the Executive Board. It's important that we focus on the right things."

Supervisory Board

The Supervisory Board oversees and advises SIDN's Executive Board on policy matters and monitors the general situation within the organisation. The SB is concerned with our objectives, our strategy and the risks associated with our business activities, and with the design and performance of our risk management and control systems.

After a year in the chair, how do you view SIDN?

"SIDN is a very professional organisation. There's always an upbeat, friendly atmosphere at SIDN, which makes it a pleasure to visit. Everyone is very committed to what they do."

What have been the main topics occupying you?

"We have annual discussions about the budget for realisation of the organisation's plans, and about the performance of both the Executive Board and the Supervisory Board. Some subjects have our constant attention, such as the services we provide to registrars, the ICT reports, pricing, SIDN Fund and SIDN Labs. Then, of course, this year there's been the ICT Roadmap and developments within the ICT Department. SIDN has defined an ambitious ICT vision and strategy for the next few years, involving fundamental changes to the organisation's ICT landscape. The intention is to update the domain name registration system, for example, and to develop a (cloud) sourcing strategy. The SB also meets the Staff Council twice a year, and, from next year, we'll be holding annual talks with the Registrars' Association as well."

What for you are the standout themes from your first year?

"There are too many to mention them all. We've changed SIDN's senior management structure, which was quite a big step. And we've overseen some major developments in the field of ICT, the implications of which haven't always been pleasant for the staff. But my abiding impression of SIDN is the positive energy that I consistently encounter. The ambition level is high, and we're constantly striving to provide a framework for everyone, within which we can retain our elite performance capability."

What do you see as the main challenges facing SIDN?

"We now have a lot of initiatives running simultaneously. That implies new risks and challenges. Will we get everyone onboard? Will the outside world be able to keep up? Have we correctly identified all the risks? Do we have the right expertise in house? We need to ask ourselves all those questions."

What are you looking forward to as Chair of the SB?

"At the moment, the SB has 2 effective committees concerned with specific fields: the Audit Committee and the Security and Stability Committee. We're also looking for someone to succeed Kees Neggers, someone who really knows the international world in which SIDN operates. Good successors need to be found for Mark Frequin and Jeannine Peek as well. Both of them are stepping down after serving the maximum of 3 terms of 3 years. In the last year, the SB has seen a high turnover of members, so I feel the priority now is stabilisation, expertise development and team-building, rather than change. Now that the Executive Board has taken on its definitive new form, it'll be good to be able to concentrate on realising all the organisation's plans."