report.at

No. 2/ 2013 - 15 years nic.at
Dear reader,
It is exactly 15 years since the University
of Vienna and the Association of Internet
Service Providers Austria (ISPA) changed
the way that domain registrations were
managed in Austria. On 28 August 1998,
ISPA founded nic.at as a limited liability company tasked with registering and
managing domains with the .at, .co.at
and .or.at extensions. In this .at report we
would like to celebrate nic.at’s birthday by
telling you a bit more about it, looking at
all the different parts of the company and
introducing some of its “relatives”.
Our early days were all about putting the
necessary structures in place – in the
company itself and within the ownership
hierarchies. Until the end of the year 2000,
nic.at remained under the ownership of the
non-profit association ISPA. But ISPA soon
decided to find a more suitable legal format
for domain registrations and set up the
non-profit Internet Privatstiftung Austria
IPA (also known as Internet Foundation
Austria), which became the sole owner of
nic.at. We take a look at some of the lesser
known aspects of this privately established
public service entity on page 2.
We are always being asked where the
income from domain registrations is put
to use. The stated purpose of the foundation – to foster the internet in Austria
– brings all the loose ends together. The
IPA distributes part of the profit to the
foundation’s donator, ISPA, and to the
University of Vienna, which served as
domain registry for many years. But the
majority of the surplus – currently around
one million euros each year – is distributed
by IPA via the netidee campaign to promote development of the internet in Austria
in the form of grants. The money is also
used to help finance important initiatives
such as CERT.at and Stopline – see page
5 for more.
On page 6 we reveal that nic.at is more
than just a domain registry. In addition
to our day-to-day responsibilities, we are
involved in a whole host of activities that
put our expertise to excellent use. Some
of these have led to the creation of completely new areas of business for nic.at’s
partner firms and subsidiaries.
Richard Wein & Robert Schischka
General managers nic.at
We would also like to use this special .at
report to thank everyone who has played
a role in taking us as far as we have got
to today: our founders and visionaries, our
customers and registrars, the voluntary
members of our councils and of course
all of the employees who work so hard
to make nic.at what it is. We hope you
enjoy this special anniversary edition of
the .at report!
Richard Wein and Robert Schischka
Domain registrations | The .at zone since 1998
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999
1998
1,208,274
1,188,696
1,093,672
939,951
909,287
799,562
722,193
585,765
474,346
384,768
311,859
269,173
224,803
159,676
70,397
31,475
1 million domains
709.032 IDN domains for free
Current domain totals: As per 1 August 2013, the .at zone comprised 1,208,274 domains.
A total of 118,396 new domains have been registered since 1 January 2013.
Credits: Owner and publisher: nic.at GmbH, Jakob-Haringer-Strasse 8/V, 5020 Salzburg. Concept and editorial: Monika Pink-Rank, Graphic design: Imagein GmbH.
Photos and graphics: nic.at, ZID University of Vienna Computer Center. Place of publication: Salzburg, August 2013.
www.nic.at | 1
All issues of the .at report
Dipl.-Ing. Dr. Andreas
Schildberger
Dipl.-Ing. Ernst
Langmantel
Domain Name
Council
Sponsorship
Council
Dr. Andreas Koman
Bernd Hilmar
DI Petra Bußwald
KR Ing. Martin Prager
Christian Mock
Sabine Fleischmann
DI. Ulf Busch
Dipl.-Ing. Dr. Kurt
Reichinger
Dr. Stefan Köhler
Mag. Walter Mika
Eric Schätzlein
Mag. Ritchie
Pettauer
Dr. Franz
Schmidbauer
Dr. Wolfgang
Schwabl
Dipl.-Ing. Ronald
Schwärzler
Mag. Maria Zesch
Dr. Christian Singer
Dr. Constantin Tönz
powerful innovations
BUSINESS
CONTINUITY
PE
CA
L
GL AND
OB
AL
Internet Foundation Austria
ISE
RT
RcodeZero
Anycast DNS
SP
EE
D
Y
ICIT
PL
SIM
Visit: www.nic.at, www.netidee.at,
domainbeirat.at, www.ipcom.at,
www.rcodezero.at, www.enum.at to find out more.
Supervisory
Board
EX
is a non-profit organisation (Internet Privatstiftung Austria – IPA) which was founded
in 2000 by the Association of Internet Service Providers Austria (ISPA). The objective
of the foundation is to foster development
of the internet in Austria, and in particular
to manage the domain .at in trust for the
general public. Other services are provided
by nic.at subsidiaries enum.at and IPCom
as well as affiliate company TLD-Box. The
Management Board is responsible for the
day to day management of the foundation
while the Supervisory Board – nominated
by ISPA and the University of Vienna – is
responsible for overseeing the activities of the
Management Board and appoints members
to the Management Board and the Domain
Name Council. The Domain Name Council
gives recommendations on basic principles for the assignment policy of .at domain
names. IPA supports projects and scientific
studies that promote the use of the internet
in Austria via the netidee grants scheme.
Submissions and applications are reviewed
by the independent voluntary members of
the sponsorship council.
Management
Board
LO
nic.at’s parent organisation,
Internet Foundation Austria
RESILIENCE
Interview with Ernst Langmantel, Chairman of the Management Board of the Internet Foundation Austria (IPA)
affiliate company TLD-Box as a high-quality,
reliable technical partner for operators of the
new gTLDs. And finally, to secure a healthy
future of the foundation in the long run.
You are also responsible for the netidee
grants scheme – what are your priorities
in this particular area?
You have been Chairman of the IPA
Management Board since the start of
2013. What would you say were your
three top priorities?
Above all, assuring the permanent availability – and security – of nic.at services
for the .at zone. We want to position nic.at
2 | www.nic.at
I would like to raise awareness of the excellent funding opportunities that are available, particularly among young people and
start-ups. In terms of content, I think that
internet security and data protection are
key topics that play a major role in people’s
perception of the internet and its ability
to serve society. Also, focuses such as
reducing the digital divide and promoting
e-literacy and social entrepreneurship are
more important than ever.
What previous experiences do you
consider the most helpful in your current
role on the Management Board?
I have worked with nic.at and IPA for several years thanks to my position on the
Domain Name Council, and I value the
level of dedication and expertise offered by
the people involved. That is why I am very
pleased to be able to contribute to shaping
the companies’ future strategy and to help
influence the netidee grants scheme in my
capacity as a member of the Management
Board. I’ve been engaged in the development of telecommunications and internet
technology for many years – including the
social development side of things – and I
can benefit from that now.
.at- report
NE
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PR & Marketing
M
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rnhard Erler
M
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ika Pink-Ran
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Office Administration
EN
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hard Wein
Legal Department
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online at www.at-report.at
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Customer Service
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Pa
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Ka
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15 years nic.at
nic.at (nic stands for network information
centre) is a dynamic company in every
sense of the word – and it has grown in line
with its responsibilities. What started out
with building up areas such as customer
service, registrar support, bookkeeping
and legal expertise, grew and grew with
the rising number of domains, eventually
leading the company to break into new
areas of business. In-house IT, research
An
An
dre a G r ub e r
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Be
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and development, operations, information
security management and PR and marketing have all come to play an increasingly
important role. nic.at is managed at two
separate locations by two CEOs: operational
matters fall under the remit of Richard Wein
in Salzburg, while Robert Schischka is in
charge of the technical side of things at
nic.at’s Vienna office. Technical operation
of the .at zone remains the responsibility
of the Vienna University Computer Center
(Zentraler Informatikdienst - ZID).
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ek
Ka
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Accounts Department
e Schausb
d r u n Ze l d e
er
r
The “typical” nic.at employee …
… is statistically seen
male, 35.3 years old,
takes the public transport to nic.at’s Vienna
office, has 0.84 children
N ic
and has been working
k Dot-Atee
for nic.at for almost 6
years. He is predominantly wearing glasses
or contact lenses and drinks 1.3 cups of
coffee per day.
www.nic.at | 3
NE
Ro
R AL
MAN
AG
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No. 2 / 2013 - 15 years nic.at
ber
t Schisch
ka
Siehe Seite 5
ZID
Operations
Information Security
E lm
a r K . Bins
s S te y
Mo
rer
AMLE A DE
Ma
r tin H ol ub
Ge
• Achim Adam
• Clemens Dorner
• Holger Englisch
• Marcel Grünauer
• Markus Heimhilcher
• Mark Hofstetter
rit z Tanzer
DEPA RT
M
ll R
A
DEPA RT
Ge
ade r mach
rald
er
B u t ti n
ge
Da
Th
r
nie
l Weißenbö
Registrar Roundtable
v.l.t.r. Rudolf E. Steiner (nemox.net), Thomas Frank
(flashbrother.net), Alexander König (A.K.I.S. GmbH),
Sebastian Röthler (info.at), Stefan Griesmaier (Microlab)
and Mario Peschel (InterNetworX)
o m a s M e i ke
le
xa
• Valentin Mitoiu
• Thomas Ogrisegg
• Andreas Papst
• Bernhard Reutner-Fischer
• David Schmidt
• Arsen Stasic
M
n d e r M ay r h o
M
c
k
Ti
OF
HE
HE
er
ch
ler
T
r R e t te n b a
A
th e
d Wink
EN
T
G
ün
D
95 percent of all .at domains are administered by registrars. Regular roundtables provide an opportunity for nic.at and
elected registrar representatives to compare notes. Roundtable spokesperson
Sebastian Röthler explains how it works:
“The roundtables are very important: they
give everyone the chance to find out about
how the other side does things, allowing
us to find solutions together. Everyone has
different priorities due to their divergent
business models and requirements, and we
f
er
OF
M
Research & Development
EN
A
IT
D
rhar
ar
tin S
M
ic h
c hli c ks
ae l B r aunöd
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r
d re a
fe r
R
HE
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er
An
ha rd Rohan
n Le nzho
M A IN A D
R ATION
R ic
St
efa
g
DO
IST
ia n Pr o s c hi n
M
IN
is t
DEPA RT
T
T
C
hr
OF
D
TE
M
r
DEPA RT
A
OF
EN
D
EN
A
Vienna University Computer Center
Ka
K la
u s D a r ili o n
f
rl Heinz Wol
try to bring these together under one roof –
which isn’t always easy. But we successfully
handled one hot potato – the changes to
the general terms and conditions – to great
effect. Many of the points that have come
up over the years have been addressed as
a result. I think that we have to strengthen
.at in future, particularly in regards to the
new endings.”
https://www.nic.at/de/partner/round_table/
www.nic.at | 4
No. 2 / 2013 - 15 years nic.at
All issues of the .at report
nic.at serving the internet community CERT and Stopline
nic.at personnel and financial resources are used to help operate two nationwide initiatives: the Computer Emergency Response Team
(CERT.at) and Stopline, the Austrian Report Centre against Child Pornography and National Socialism on the Internet.
DEPA RT
ber
t Schisch
M
TE
CERT.at was initiated in 2007 as a joint
project of the Federal Chancellor’s Office
and Internet Foundation Austria (IPA). It
acts as a central coordination point for
national IT security matters, brings together other CERTs from critical areas of the
country’s infrastructure, issues security
warnings and provides support in the event
of security breaches. As part of the Austrian Trust Circle, CERT.at also promotes
AMLE ADER
T
Ro
t thias Fraid
l
O tm
Aa
ar Lend
l
ro n K a pl a n
Interview with Dr. Peter Rastl
Peter Rastl headed the Vienna University Computing Center
(now known as the Zentraler Informatikdienst -ZID) from 1974
to 2010 and was a member of the Internet Foundation Austria
(IPA) board from 2000-2010.
St
efa
n Le nzho
fe r
hr
C
Ma
ka
is t
er
OF
HE
D
EN
A
Computer Emergency Response Team
ia n Pr o s c hi n
g
St
eph
an Rich
Mr. Rastl, you played a key role in
setting up CERT.at in Austria. Why did
you foster this initiative?
For many years the Computer Security
Incident Response Team run by Austrian science network ACOnet was the only
security board operating in the country. It
was clear to me that we urgently needed a
new institution working at a national level.
IPA seemed like the best possible choice
thanks to their technical expertise, neutral
position when it comes to providers and
also their ability to use income from their
domain registration activities to finance a
information exchange between all the key
players in Austria’s critical IT infrastructure.
The CERT.at security experts have excellent
national and international contacts, and the
organisation’s director Robert Schischka is
also a member of the management board
of the global Forum of Incident Response
and Security Teams (FIRST).
Visit www.cert.at, www.first.org to find out more.
te r
Ro
ber t
Waldn
er
Ch
r i s ti
an Wojn
er
project of this nature. So in 2007 we asked
nic.at CEO Robert Schischka to build up
and operate the new organisation.
Did the development so far meet your
expectations?
CERT.at does its job brilliantly: both cooperation with the Federal Chancellor’s
Office and the appointment of Robert
Schischka to the FIRST management
board are a ringing endorsement of the
quality of CERT.at’s work.
STOPLINE – Austrian Report Centre against Child Pornography and
National Socialism on the Internet.
www.stopline.at
5 | www.nic.at
Stopline was founded voluntarily in 1998
by the Association of Internet Service Providers Austria (ISPA). The report centre
is officially recognised by the Austrian
authorities and works in close cooperation with the Austrian Federal Ministry for
the Interior and domestic internet service
providers. Its overarching objective is to
remove child pornography and extreme
right wing content from the internet, acting
on information received from the general
public. Stopline is part of the global INHOPE
hotline network.
nic.at is operating the report centre and has
provided financial support to Stopline since
the agency’s inception. Barbara Schlossbauer, head of the nic.at legal department
chairs the Stopline Board.
Visit www.stopline.at and www.inhope.org to
find out more.
online at www.at-report.at
nic.at, the domain competence centre
In addition to registering and administrating.
at domains, managing the name service for
.at and providing customer support, nic.at
also represents Austria’s online interests
in a number of national and international committees and serves as a centre of
excellence regarding domains. Here we
present an overview of the company’s
advisory activities.
to take place from 20–21 February 2014
in Salzburg. The Domainrechtstag is a
red letter day on legal experts’ calendars, and the registrar day for registrars is
another highlight. nic.at also co-hosts
the IT Businesstalk event in partnership
with Salzburg Research.
Domain information services
A weekly domain name newsletter, a
news clippings service focusing on the
latest domain-related developments, press
releases and campaigns – nic.at works
hard to raise awareness of domains and
to publish all the newest goings on from
the world of domains. At the moment the
company’s Domains Take Things Further
campaign provides valuable tips for domain strategies and a special anniversary
focus in 2013: comic trio maschek raise
a glass to 25 years of the .at extension at
www.domainsmachenmehrdaraus.at
Lectures and consultancy abroad
nic.at experts are always in demand as
keynote speakers for talks covering every aspect of domains, from domain law
to internet governance, from security issues to voice over IP telephony. nic.at’s
specialist know-how is also highly prized
throughout the domain world, with developers approaching the company for its
consultancy services from places as far
afield as Saudi Arabia and Malaysia. nic.at
technology is already in action in domain
and ENUM registries in various European
countries including Norway and Ireland.z.B.
in Norwegen und Irland.
Studies and surveys
nic.at is always among the first to detect
the latest trends in the industry thanks to
its special studies and customer surveys,
such as the 2010 Economic Impact Study
of .at Domains (Gottfried Haber, University
of Klagenfurt) and the large-scale Domain
Strategy Study (Petra Gregorits, PGM) conducted last year. At present Peter Handler
of the Vienna University of Economics and
Business is hard at work preparing a linguistic appraisal of .at domain names. The
results of the previous nic.at studies are covered in the 1/2011 and 2/2012 .at reports,
which are published at www.at-report.at
Industry events
domain pulse, the most important domainrelated expert forum in the German-speaking world, is organised by nic.at every
three years. The next event is scheduled
6 | www.nic.at
Representing the Local Internet
Community
nic.at is actively taking part in national
and international bodies, such as: