Since the opening of .COM.DE pre-registrations at HEXONET, the volume has been tremendous. With .DE being the largest ccTLD in the world at over 14,000,000 domains, it is actually no surprise to see the huge demand for .COM.DE

Did you miss out on getting the .DE domain you wanted? Now is the time to get the German domains you wanted and more.

Why .COM.DE:

• The Perfect Formula: .COM.DE brings together the popularity of .COM and the national identity of .DE
• Many Valuable Domain Names Available: The namespace will be brand new, meaning many highly valuable domains will be available to register. Imagine owning music.com.de, chat.com.de, shop.com.de, auto.com.de, sale com.de, …etc.
• Unrestricted: Registration of a .COM.DE is as easy as registering a .COM.  No Trustee required. Unrestricted anyone worldwide can register a .COM.DE
• Opportunity: Germany is Europe’s number one domain market. .COM.DE domains can be a meaningful addition to your domain portfolio.
• Recognized: The respective ‘.COM.XX’ domain extension is used in over 90 countries around the world. For example, Australia with .COM.AU, Brazil with.COM.BR and China with .COM.CN.

According to the registry, .COM.DE was established “to fulfill the consumer demand for more web addresses with a .DE ending and with less restrictions. .COM.DE ushers German businesses into the global spotlight and provides the ideal domain for foreign companies doing business in Germany. Thousands of keyword domains are now available as .com.de bringing a fresh inventory of domain names.”

What Does the Timing Look Like for .COM.DE Registrations?

The Landrush period has just ended. ‘.DE Owner Promotion’ (accepting applications from .DE owners wishing to secure their matching .COM.DE domains) runs from August 30 – September 23, 2011. General Availability starts on September 26, 2011.

Who Operates the .COM.DE Extension?

CentralNic manages 26 niche domain extensions including EU.COM, UK.COM and .LA.

Is .COM.DE DNSSEC Signed?

.COM.DE will launch with DNSSEC enabled. Registrants who wish to sign their zones can provide DS record information to CentralNic via their registrar.

Can .COM.DE Domains Be Registered in IDN (Internationalized Domain Names) Characters?

Yes

Can I Use WhoisTrustee for .COM.DE Domains?

No

For more details on .COM.DE pre-registrations services and pricing at HEXONET, please click here.

A Thirst for Domain Names in Germany…

We know that Germans are major consumers of beer and bratwurst….Oktoberfest anyone?  But did you know that Germany is also a powerhouse when it comes to worldwide domain registrations. For instance, the country’s .DE ccTLD (country-code Top-Level Domain) is the largest ccTLD in the world.  Here are some interesting insights into the .DE ccTLD, as well as, the progressive domain name market in Germany:

• Germany’s .DE ccTLD is the largest ccTLD in the world with 13,778,408 domains registered. In fact, .DE is the second largest domain extension next to .COM – Click here for the most recent statistics on ccTLDs.
• Almost half of all .DE domains are hyphenated (unlike in North America where hyphenated domains are not very popular, the language semantics of German make hyphens more natural)
• In Germany, the .DE ccTLD is king, meaning .DE is much more popular than .COM when choosing a domain
• Direct navigation is still very popular in Germany. Many people will type a name followed by .DE into the browser directly.
• Germany has 65 million Internet users, the highest among the member states of the European Union.  Most German users are very Internet-savvy.
• Germany has one of the largest domain aftermarkets. It is dominated by one large player, SEDO.
• .DE is the most popular ccTLD in the aftermarket for domain names.  Year-to-date, some significant sales include:  Software.de (235,000 Euros), Free-SMS.de (115,000 Euros) and Website.de (101,150 Euros). Source: DNJournal

Top 20 Cities and Regions with the most domains in 2009:

.DE at a Glance:
Available Domains: .de
Pricing:  View pricing
Requirements: Local presence required
Registry: DENIC
Registration Period: 1 month, 1 year

In addition to offering Trustee Services for .DE registrations (local presence for Non-German entities), HEXONET is pleased to be able to offer “monthly” billing for .DE domains. This feature offers tremendous advantages for both novice, as well as professional domainers. Click here to learn more.  Lastly, HEXONET recently has become one of the first registrars worldwide to be able to offer DNSSEC for .DE registrations.  We highly suggest all our customers to read up on DNSSEC and its importance.

Why DNSSEC is Important to Resellers and End Users

Though technologies like the Domain Name System (DNS) are fundamental to making the Internet work, businesses using the Internet, typically don’t need to know the details of the technology to make use of it.  Most resellers go on without ever giving such technologies a second thought.  However, for those businesses, spending a little time trying to understand important technology shifts can result in real benefits and competitive advantage. DNSSEC (Secure DNS) is one such technology that resellers should monitor.

Without going into the technical mumbo jumbo, in a nutshell, DNSSEC is a secure version of the well established and insecure version of DNS.  Cache poisoning, the unauthorized access and modification of DNS caches to intentionally spoof websites, hijack email, and even steal passwords has been a major vulnerability.  DNSSEC ensures cache poisoning is prevented, that DNS data cannot be forged and that data originating from its stated source is not modified in transit.

DNSSEC is a High Value Security Feature

With the domain and hosting markets being so competitive, a new feature, especially a high value security feature like DNSSEC, can create an opportunity to gain customers.  This is particularly true if one’s competitors are unable to offer the same feature.  Right now, .DE, .ORG, .EU and .SE domains registered at HEXONET can be signed with the registrant’s DNSSEC validation keys.  DNSSEC not only adds a technical layer of security for the domain holder, but more importantly, provides the registrant the peace of mind that their domain can’t be used for malicious purposes.

First DNSSEC Accredited European Registrar with .ORG

Robert Birkner, Chief Strategy Officer of HEXONET, “wants to congratulate the Public Interest Registry, for being the first generic Top-Level-Domain registry to fully deploy DNSSEC. We are delighted to support PIR in many of its initiatives and in particular its leadership in DNSSEC.”

“We congratulate 1API for passing the DNSSEC certification for .ORG,” says Alexa Raad, CEO of .ORG, the Public Interest Registry, “and applaud them for taking a leadership role in the European registrar community for supporting DNSSEC.”

Why Choose HEXONET’s Future-proof  DNSSEC

HEXONET is one of the first registrars to fully support DNSSEC.  In fact, HEXONET’s implementation of DNSSEC supports both DS based and DNSKEY based delegation to ensure seamless interoperability with a wide variety of registries for today and in the future.  Technically this means, as a HEXONET reseller, we have you covered no matter how individual registries implement their DNSSEC.

“”As pioneer in DNSSEC, .SE welcomes 1API as a registrar that can offer DNSSEC to their customers.” – Danny Aerts, CEO of the SE Registry