Tag: NL
.nl is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for the Netherlands. Registrations are processed via a network of participants. It is one of the more popular ccTLDs, ranked 3rd in the quarterly VeriSign Domain Name Industry Brief of May 2011 for the first quarter of 2011, after .de and .uk.
It was the first ccTLD ever to be registered. The authority for the .nl domain was handed over to Piet Beertema of the Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica in 1986.
Since January 31, 1996 .nl domains are registered by the Stichting Internet Domeinregistratie Nederland (SIDN, in English: Foundation for Internet Domain Registration Netherlands), based in Arnhem. SIDN operates as a registry, with around 1900 registrars. Most registrars are ISPs, IT service bureaus and media service bureaus, but several large enterprises with many brand names have also become a registrar, or participant as SIDN calls them, which is a quite uncommon phenomenon in the domain name industry. Registrars have to pay SIDN…