“It is our responsibility to make sure that .dk is a secure top-level domain”

Since 1999, DK Hostmaster administers the Danish top-level domain .dk. The other week we had a visit from their CEO, Jakob Bring Truelsen, and we took the opportunity to ask a few questions.

Hi Jakob! Please, tell us briefly about DK Hostmaster. Who are you?

DK Hostmaster is responsible for the administration of the .dk top-level domain. We are governed by the Danish Internet Forum (DIFO). One of our most important tasks is fighting domain abuse, ensuring that the .dk zone is kept secure.

How is the .dk top-level domain doing?

Internationally, .dk is a strong top-level domain. The growth, however, has been sum zero over the last few years, and currently we are looking into how we can achieve sustainable growth to ensure that .dk continues to be the most registered top-level domain in Denmark. For example, by launching additional services and products. We see a huge potential in services and products that help increase security, such as DNSSEC.

Are there any specific plans for the .dk top-level domain in 2020?

Our top priority is to keep establishing our position as a secure top-level domain. Domain abuse is on the rise, and it can cause major damage to society, so here we, being a registry, are responsible to do what we can to counter it. We have, among other things, implemented a stricter identity control for .dk domain owners, and we are one of few registries who run an open WHOIS.

.dk domains should be secure and a symbol of quality.

We are also planning to update our collaboration with the registrars, giving them increased authority and flexibility, while we as a registry become more standardized.

What is your take on the domain name development in the 2020 decade?

Security in the infrastructure will become even more imporant. DNSSEC will be even more widespread, close to mandatory.

We will work to help our customers see “their whole digital identity”; social media, domain names, brands, and so on. It is important to cover all aspects and not overlook something in the rush.

The importance of owning your identity online is increasing, and domain names have an important role in that. Having your names as domain names, and not only be depending on social platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, etc., is important, because on the social platforms you do not own the content nor the traffic you have built yourself. Who owns that data?

How do you think voice control will affect domains and the future use of domains?

Personally, I cannot see how it will affect anything for quite some time. Danish is a very small language, and therefore it is not prioritized by the large actors who are leading the voice control development. A key for fully functional voice control in Denmark is that it must be compatible with Danish, and there is a long way to go yet. Far from everyone is comfortable using voice control in English. I have a concern that the smaller languages such as Danish, will not be part of the voice control paradigm that is now currently spreading on the internet.

Thank you, Jakob, for the chat. We at Dotkeeper are looking forward to a continued successful collaboration!