Where does your domain name come from?

Dependency

In the Dutch business community, the response of many was, "that's the price they pay for Brexit." However, although they may not know it, some Dutch businesses are themselves dependent on foreign governments or organisations for continuation of their online presence. Why? Because many people don't understand what a domain name extension is, or who's responsible for it.

Country-code and generic domain name extensions

There are two basic types of top-level domain. First, there are country-code top-level domains (ccTLDs): two-character extensions representing countries, such as .nl for the Netherlands and .de for Germany. Then there are generic top-level domains (gTLDs): longer extensions, such as .com, .amsterdam and .shop. This second group comes directly under the rules of an international organisation called ICANN.

Where a ccTLD is concerned, the government of the relevant country can usually influence the way the domain is run. A government can apply laws or regulations to domains under its jurisdiction, for example. That's the case with us: SIDN, and therefore the policies that apply to .nl, is subject to Dutch law. We have a covenant with the Dutch government, under which we agree to remain in the Netherlands, so that we're always under Dutch jurisdiction. In the case of a generic domain name, the registrant has the reassurance of knowing that they come under consistent global rules defined by ICANN, the worldwide domain name organisation. What many businesspeople don't realise, however, is that their domain names are actually linked to countries they have no ties with. The URL shortener bit.ly is one operation that uses an unrelated ccTLD: .ly is the domain for Libya. And lots of people use Montenegro's .me domain. Various countries around the world recognise that the meaning of their country code in other languages can be a driver of demand for their domain names and therefore a source of income.

Island of Niue wants .nu back

One ccTLD with appeal outside its own country is .nu. The extension is popular in the Netherlands because 'nu' means 'now' in Dutch. So Dutch businesses can create domain names that mean things like 'buy now' or 'apply now'. Not many of the registrants stop to think that their extension is actually the domain for the Pacific island of Niue. It's now twenty years since the Niue authorities licensed a commercial operator to run the .nu domain, using the registry services of SIDN's Swedish counterpart Internetstiftelsen to market the extension in Scandinavia and the Netherlands.

However, Niue has since had second thoughts about the agreement. For several years now, the island has been seeking to regain control of .nu and recently petitioned ICANN with that goal in mind. The current rules governing the transfer of ccTLDs give little cause to believe that Niue will succeed. However, the islanders are hoping that other countries will support their petition within ICANN, and that the resulting political pressure will win the day.

If Niue does get its TLD back, there may be serious consequences for the registrants of .nu domain names. The local authorities could make registrants follow new rules, or take the line that Niue isn't obliged to respect registrants' existing contractual rights. There are precedents: about ten years ago, the Chinese authorities introduced strict new requirements, which meant that millions of registrants lost their .cn domain names.

Cautious approach

My advice to businesses is therefore always to be cautious. Before building a business on a domain name, ask yourself how dependable the TLD is. What rules will apply to our domain? A domain name extension may seem like a very small thing, but the wrong choice can have serious long-term consequences.