DOMAIN NAME EXPERTISE SINCE 1997
The experience of an industry veteran
July 16, 1997, Pierre BERECZ and Philip VAN GELDER launch andco.net, the first universal domain name availability search engine, covering every available extension. The company's first domain names are registered.
1999, with Stéphane VAN GELDER now onboard, INDOM is launched as a domain name registrar capable of registering domains everywhere.
November 2001, INDOM launches "Domaines.info" as a print (see below) and web-based (in September 2001) information resource on domain names providing reliable and trustworthy domain news. Domaines.Info quickly establishes itself as the standard and begins drawing more and more contributors (1), amongst them industry leaders, IP and legal professionals, technical experts and officials. domaines.Info now boasts 22,000 subscribers. It is published daily and has a separate legal section (launched in 2004) which also provides the latest UDRP and CAC (.EU) dispute resolution decisions in real-time.
2002, INDOM strengthens its information systems and international partner network to provide an ever-improving level of service. INDOM Inc. is launched in the USA.
September 2002, INDOM moves its Paris headquarters into bigger offices just opposite the Paris stock exchange.
2003, INDOM is selected by France's IP corporation, the Compagnie Nationale des conseils en Propriété Industrielle (CNCPI) to become its domain name partner for its yearly event, the Rencontres Internationales de la Propriété Industrielle. INDOM acquires the registrar business of the French firm CVFM, the deal includes the website SOS DOMAINES.
2004, INDOM is selected as the domain name partner for the European IP Summit in Brussels (Belgium). The event is organized under the patronage of the European Commission.
Stéphane VAN GELDER is elected by the French registrar community to serve as their representative on the board of Afnic, the French registry. During his 3 year term, the concept of a Code of Conduct is introduced. Stéphane VAN GELDER is re-elected for a second term (the maximum possible under Afnic rules) in 2007.
2005, Already an Icann-accredited registrar, INDOM becomes the first registrar to be accredited by EURid in France. Two new offices are opened in Sophia-Antipolis (INDOM SOUTH) and Strasbourg (INDOM EUROPE).
On December 7, 2005, The French business channel "BFM TV" selects INDOM to cover the launch of the new European domain .EU. From 9 am on the day of the launch, BFM TV reporter Sylvain PIERRON is on-hand to film INDOM's control centre. At precisely 11:00:00, .EU is launched and INDOM's technical team managed by Yoann Hebert begins registering thousands of .EU domains on behalf of INDOM's customers.
See BFM TV's coverage
2006, INDOM covers all aspects of the domain name industry, a fact highlighted by the launch of its new mascot, the INDOM Swiss army knife, as a symbol of the company's ability to deal with any domain name related issue.
May 11, 2006, INDOM is awarded the Gazelle 2005 prize by French Commerce minister Renaud DUTREIL. The prize rewards the country's most dynamic companies, employing from 5 to 250 people and showing the largest increase in revenue for at least two years running.
December 7 and 8, 2006, INDOM is the domain name partner for the 2006 IP Summit. Over two days of workshops and roundtables, the IP Summit brings together Europe's IP community. It is a unique event giving IP professionals the opportunity to meet and work together. During the summit, Stéphane VAN GELDER is granted an exclusive video interview by European Information Society Commissioner Viviane Reding for Domaines.Info. Read the interview published by Domaines.info
"A Code of Conduct will help .EU users identify those registrars offering the best quality and service."
Stéphane VAN GELDER is nominated to the board of the French chapter of ISOC (Internet Society).
2007, On February 16, INDOM presents the book "Naming Strategy", published by Domaines.Info. With more than 100 million domains registered worldwide, choosing the right domains and monitoring their web identity is now of major importance for companies everywhere. "Internet naming strategy, choosing and safeguarding your domain names" explains the crucial steps to building and exercising a coherent naming strategy, and how to use the best tools available for doing so.
The book is written by domain consultant Loïc DAMILAVILLE and Patrick HAUSS, INDOM's General Counsel.
March 2007 INDOM partners with Paris' House of China to host the first .ASIA conference. The soon-to-be released suffix .ASIA is explained in detail by domain and SE ranking experts to France's leading IP professionals.
April 2007, Matching the changing requirements of domain name users, INDOM's teams are organised in units.
- One unit is assembled to focus on INDOM's traditional business partners: IP professionals. Under the management of Arnaud WITTERSHEIM, INDOM's Pro Unit helps IP practices and lawyers deal with all aspects of domain name management. Monitoring, worldwide registrations, providing local contacts where necessary, recovery and domain purchases, transfers and portfolio consolidation are all part of the Pro Unit's service.
- To help corporations fight the increase in online brand infringements, a unit is dedicated to working with legal departments and IP divisions. Managed by Audray WAI-CHEE, the Legal Unit strives to protect our clients' domain names. A vast array of tools and techniques are used to achieve this: availability searches, automated domain recovery systems, monitoring of possible infringing domain registrations, etc. The unit also works to build a naming strategy with its clients to better evaluate their portfolio status.
- Recognizing the Internet's increasing importance in overall brand and image building, INDOM sets one of its Customer Units up to help its customers' marketing departments. Managed by Clémence MONTALANT, the Marketing Unit constantly researches the latest trends on the Web and monitors domain registrations to find out who is doing what, what ideas are being worked on, if any new projects are coming threateningly close to our clients' existing projects, etc. If needed, the Unit can operate confidentially to handle projects such as anonymous domain name purchases.
- A domain name may be a piece of virtual real estate, but when it comes to technical issues, it is very much a tangible asset. Just ask the IT managers we work with. INDOM's Technology Unit is dedicated to making sure that their domain names always fonction, that websites can always be accessed, emails sent and received… IT departments aren't the only ones to work with our Technology Unit, managed by Lise SCHIEB. Volume consumers of domain names, such as domainers, also thrive on the service provided by this unit, and on the quality and ease-of-use they get from INDOM's management tools. A practical and comprehensive online customer interface combined with the security of a robust DNS infrastructure and the expertise of the Technology Unit means that they can get the very best out of their domains.
Alongside our specialist Units, Support Entities provide commercial and technological backup.
- Raphaël TESSIER and his team of legal specialists give telephone, email and direct support to our customers so that with INDOM, help and advice is never more than a phone call away.
- Joyce LAMBERT manages INDOM's technical team where highly trained systems engineers can answer any tech-related query.
- Nicknamed "CNN" after the TV news channel, Nicolas BOUTMY and his team are in contact with registries and industry insiders around the world to keep abreast of the latest news on extensions, domain use, registrations rules, new launches... Everything they learn is shared both with our staff and customers, making sure that the former remain the very best domain experts in the industry while the latter are never taken by surprise on domain name issues. This also forms the basis of the industry-leading coverage published in Domaines.Info and our INDOM newsletters.
August 2007, INDOM's unabated growth leads to yet another move for the Paris offices, this time in the heart of the city's prestigious 8th district. Following the same trend, INDOM's Strasbourg office also moves into bigger premises in the European Capital's historic centre.
October 11, 2007, to support its international growth and help its customers secure their domains in the newly launched .ASIA suffix, INDOM opens new offices in Hong-Kong.
May 2008, Stéphane VAN GELDER is elected by the world's registrars to serve on the Executive Committee of Icann's Registrar Constituency as Treasurer.
October 2008, Stéphane VAN GELDER is elected to Icann's GNSO Council by the members of Icann's Registrar Constituency. The GNSO is Icann's policy-making body on generic Top Level Domains and produced the set of guidelines and recommendations which led to the launch of the new gTLD program.
October 2009, Stéphane VAN GELDER is elected Vice Chair of the GNSO Council.
October 2010, INDOM and IRPI organize the symposium "SOCIAL NETWORKS, DOMAIN NAMES, RESEAUX SOCIAUX, NOMS DE DOMAINE NEW CHALLENGES FOR COMPANIES", at the Chambre de commerce et d'industrie de Paris
December 2010, INDOM was bought by Group NBT, the European leader in the market for domain names, the digital identity protection and hosting.
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(1) Domaines.info's regular contributors include: Maître Benjamin AMAUDRIC DU CHAFFAUT, Sébastien BACHOLLET, Maître Marie-Emmanuelle HAAS, Loïc DAMILAVILLE, Emmanuel GILLET, Nathalie DREYFUS, Georges FISCHER, Chantal LEBRUMENT, Cédric MANARA, Alexandre NAPPEY, Bertrand THORE, Maître Thibault VERBIEST...
