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[DENIC Presse <presse AT denic.de>]

(See attached file: 1st_RDE_Contract_Signed_ICANN_DENIC_GlobalVillage.jpg)

NEWS RELEASE

DENIC Starts Official Operation as Data Escrow Provider for ICANN-Accredited 
Registrars

Unprecedented: German Law Integrated into Contract and Full Conformity with 
Applicable European Data Protection Legislation

DENIC extends its business to include back-up storage for the registration 
data of ICANN-accredited registrars. These benefit both from DENIC's
impartiality and the conformity of its service with European data protection 
regulations.

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Dear Sir or Madam,

The managing organisation of Germany’s country code .de on the Internet, 
DENIC, is extending its business activities to include a back-up storage
service for the business data of ICANN-accredited registrars (Registrar Data 
Escrow). On 15 March 2017, the ultimate formal basis required to this end
was established with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers 
(ICANN), including several unprecedented conditions: Different from any
previous agreement, not only the applicable law and place of jurisdiction 
terms allow for non-US legislation and venues, as far as the relationship
between registrar and data escrow provider is concerned. Also for the first 
time within the ICANN escrow context, full compliance with the applicable
European data protection regulations is achieved.

The accreditation by ICANN as Third-Party Provider for Registrar Data Escrow 
(TPP RDE) had been obtained by DENIC last year already. Now the details
of the obligatory tripartite agreement between ICANN, DENIC and registrars as 
the users of the RDE service could be finalised. The contract stands out
from other parties’ escrow agreements with ICANN by not being governed 
exclusively by Californian law but also allowing German law as the applicable
legislation for the contractual relationship between a registrar and DENIC as 
escrow provider – provided ICANN is not affected. Moreover, the
registrar and DENIC may define upon contract conclusion if, in case of 
dispute, they will seek redress in a German court or a Swiss court of
arbitration.

During the recent ICANN meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark, the first tripartite 
agreement was signed by Akram Atallah, President of ICANN’s Global
Domains Division (GDD), DENIC COO Andreas Musielak and Marcus Fauré, Managing 
Director of the German registrar Global Village, on 15 March 2017.
Global Village – together with another five registrars – had already used 
DENIC's Escrow Service in the last few months within the scope of a Friends
& Family test scenario. The agreement with ICANN now cleared the way for 
concluding an official contract.

DENIC Escrow: Neutral, Legally Safe, Meeting Highest Technical Standards

DENIC’s COO Andreas Musielak expressed his satisfaction about the latest 
development: "Escrow Services is an interesting new business field for us.
Providing a back-up service for sensitive data will further enhance our 
international reputation as a trustworthy partner. Given the legal uncertainty
with regard to data transfers to the Unites States, the DENIC Escrow Service 
is a very attractive option, also and in particular to all registrars
based in Europe.” Global Village Managing Director Marcus Fauré was pleased 
as well: "In the current tense political climate, protecting the data of
European domain holders has become ever more important. I am relieved that, 
being a contracting partner of DENIC, I will now be able to store the data
of my customers in a legally safe place in Europe, without having to submit 
them to an enterprise that is competing with my own company. With DENIC, I
now have the ideal partner for the technical implementation by my side."

DENIC’s Board is confident that the ongoing contract negotiations with ICANN 
for approving DENIC to also provide Registry Data Escrow (RyDE) for the
New gTLDs will now come to a close soon, too. New gTLD registry operators are 
also subject to the obligation to use escrow services.

As a neutral, not-for-profit cooperative, DENIC is neither a registrar nor a 
gTLD (backend) operator, and thus does not compete with the potential
customers of its Escrow Service. 20 years of experience in operating one of 
the largest TLD zones worldwide (.de) with more than 16 million domains
make DENIC one of the leading experts in domain management, at an 
international level. State-of-the art cryptographic algorithms and multiple
redundancies safeguard the secure transmission and storage of all domain 
registration data. Storage will be exclusively in data centers located in
Europe (i.e. in Frankfurt and Amsterdam), in compliance with European data 
protection regulations. DENIC's certifications according to ISO/IEC
27001:2013 ISMS and ISO 22301:2012 BCM standards are another guarantee for 
maximum information security and availability.

Background Information on Data Escrow

Data Escrow is the act of storing data and information with a neutral third 
party to be held in custody by them. This measure is meant to ensure that
business activities can be continued by an independent party in case of 
failure or insolvency of the registry or registrar, on the basis of the data
stored as an external back-up copy. Domain data is also rated to be such type 
of relevant business data. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names
and Numbers (ICANN) therefore requires all its accredited registrars and 
registries to regularly deposit a copy of their generic domain (gTLD)
registration data with an independent escrow provider. In case a registrar or 
registry is no longer in the position to provide its services, these
data can then be handed over to a designated partner to be defined by ICANN 
and registrants are enabled to prove their holdership of a domain.

With its new service, DENIC offers gTLD registrars, in particular those 
domiciled in Europe, a quality solution to meet their escrow obligations under
European law by using an escrow provider based within the European Union, 
which saves them from having to transfer their data to a country outside of
the EU.



Kind regards

Stefanie Welters
Corporate Communications
--
DENIC eG | Kaiserstraße 75 - 77 | 60329 Frankfurt am Main | GERMANY
E-Mail: presse AT denic.de | Fon: +49 69 27235-274 | Fax: -235
https://www.denic.de

Angaben nach § 25a Absatz 1 GenG:
DENIC eG (Sitz: Frankfurt am Main). Vorstand: Helga Krüger, Martin 
Küchenthal, Andreas Musielak, Dr. Jörg Schweiger
Vorsitzender des Aufsichtsrats: Thomas Keller. Eingetragen unter Nr. 770 im 
Genossenschaftsregister, Amtsgericht Frankfurt am Main

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