.dk
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Introduced | 1987 |
|---|---|
| TLD type | Country code top-level domain |
| Status | Active |
| Registry | DK Hostmaster |
| Sponsoring organization | Dansk Internet Forum |
| Intended use | Entities connected with Denmark |
| Actual use | Very popular in Denmark |
| Registration restrictions | None |
| Structure | Registrations permitted at second level |
| Documents | Terms and conditions |
| Dispute policies | Complaints |
| Web site | DK Hostmaster |
.dk is the country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Denmark.
The supervision of the .dk top-level domain, is handled exclusively by DK Hostmaster.
Any new .dk domain name has to be applied for via an approved registrator. Then the domain name applicant can ask the registrator to manage his domain name or do it directly with DK Hostmaster. Registrations of domain names with the characters æ, ø, å, ö, ä, ü, and/or é are also allowed.
Contents |
[edit] History
The country code top-level domain .dk was created July 14, 1987 at ARPA Network Information Center, Stanford Research Institute (SRI-NIC) and the Danish UNIX User Group (DKUUG) at Datalogisk Institut, Københavns Universitet (DIKU) received management of the .dk domain, on the DK-net, at that time an informal name used for the UUCP network used at DIKU. The name DK-net (or DKnet) has been in use since at least 1986.
In January 1989 DKUUG made a name agreement ("navneaftalen") with the coordinators of the three other networks currently working in Denmark, a national experimental X.400 net (EAN from University of British Columbia), EARN and DECnet, concerning the .dk domain. They agreed to share it, hiding for the user which network they where connected to, nullifying the use of pseudo-domains, like .uucp or second-level domains, like gov.uk, creating a practice that has been used ever since.
DKUUG establishes a separate organization named "Dk hostmaster" in 1991, to administrate the .dk domain, following the creation of WWW.
In 1993, DK-net Aps, a genuine ISP and Denmark's first, was established as a limited liability company. This was because in mid 1988 DK-net was connected to the emerging DENet (Then an acronym for "Danish Educational Network", later "Dansk Erhvervs Net"), the government-sponsored research network established in late 1987 (now known as forskningsnettet) and run and maintained by UNI-C. By early 1992 UNI-C (via DENet) serviced all the University clients in Denmark, and DIKU has no need for DK-net anymore. Thus DKUUG, with DK-net, moved to Symbion Science Park, where they received their own international lines and started to lease these to companies and modem connection to private consumers. The growing economic, quickly overshadowing the organization own economic, forcing the creation of a company.
[edit] Tele Danmark takes over
On February 15, 1996, DK-net Aps, including the .dk domain management (DK hostmaster), were sold to Tele Danmark (now TDC) for 20 million DKK. Acknowledging the possible conflict of interest of a company (Tele Denmark) behind both a commercial ISP (DKnet A/S, now a stock corporation) and also in control of the .dk domain management (DK hostmaster), a group of tele- and internet companies, 28 in all, including Telia, Global One, Deutsche Telekom, IBM, assembled five days after the purchase in order to gain control of the DK hostmaster function.
Tele Danmark initially refused, and the group together formed the organisation Foreningen af Internetleverandører (FIL), and threaten to go directly to IANA to counter what they saw as a bona fide Tele Danmark monopoly. Tele Denmark agreed and FIL became the authority registered by IANA for the .dk domain, while the nominal and practical administration remained the responsibility off Dknet A/S. In June 1996 they signed a one-year contract about the practice and rules concerning the .dk domain, which would later be renewed for another year.
[edit] Race for the .dk domain
On January 15, 1997 at 15.00, FIL loosened the restrictions for registering a .dk domain name. Where one had previously needed a valid reason to register one, all restrictions were now removed, creating a unprecedented run on .dk domain names. By the end of 1996 there where only 6.500 registered .dk domains, by February 1, 1997 this had more than doubled and at the end of 1997 there were 41.000 registered .dk domains. This in turn created a series of legal actions, which would last well into the 2000s, not only against FIL’s own members, who was accused of using inside knowledge to register large amount of "good" domain names quickly, but also against private people who was accused of cyber squatting.
In December 1997 Tele Denmark announced that from the beginning of 1998 they would start to collect a yearly fee (of 340 DKK ex MOMS) for every registered domain name, via DK hostmaster. This causes a stir in FILs members, as they had not been informed. While there had been talks about some sort of fee to DK Hostmaster to cover its expenses, no review of DK Hostmaster’s actual budget was available since it was financially all but a part of Tele Danmark. This was therefore seen by FIL as abuse of power and profit making via an organization that was supposed to be none-profit, namely DK hostmaster. It was later revealed that it was the board of directors of FIL (later fired) that had granted Tele Danmark the right to set the price that they wanted, without asking its members.
As a consequence of this Tele Danmark announces in March of 1998 that the commercial parts in DK-net A/S was moved to Tele Denmark Internet and DK-net A/S, with its only remaining asset, DK hostmaster, was renamed to "DK hostmaster A/S", and put up for sale. Tele Danmark encouraged a larger forum or group comprising more than just telecom and internet companies (like FIL) to form and buy it, because the Internet now has a much broader appeal. This causes yet another stir in FIL who flat out rejected that Tele Denmark had the right to sell something it did not own.
[edit] DIFO takes over
In October 1998 FIL sends a letter to Tele Danmark ending the contract and agreement signed back in June 1996 (renewed in 1997) and that they want to take over the running of DK hostmaster themselves. Tele Danmark rejects that FIL can do this. In November 1998 FIL, on the invitation of the Danish Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, calls a meeting between all actors on the Danish internet, companies and well as users, under the banner "ID MoU" ("Internet Danmark Memorandum of Understanding") in order to establish a long-term agreement of the administration of the .dk domain. The result of "ID MoU" is that a number of institutions and organizations establishes a self-owning institution named Dansk INTERNET Forum (DIFO) on July 1, 1999, which with the help of external investment bought "DK hostmaster A/S" in December 1999.
[edit] Oldest .dk domain
The oldest .dk domains still registered in DK Hostmaster's database, are the domains dkuug.dk, diku.dk, bk.dk, dde.dk, ibt.dk, ifad.dk, lego.dk, mainz.dk and nordita.dk which were all registered in 1987 when .dk was registered and the move away from UUCP slowly started. Dkuug.dk and diku.dk were very important since they provided infrastructure. They were most likely the very first to be in the .dk zone.
