SIDN,the company behind .NL domain,has recently signed a five-year contract with NLnet Labs,the Dutch internet technology expertise centre,which has a worldwide reputation for its work in the field of DNS and DNSSEC.

You can read the announcement after the jump :

“SIDN, the company behind .nl, today signed a five-year contract with NLnet Labs. NLnet Labs – the Dutch internet technology expertise centre – has a worldwide reputation for its work in the field of DNS and DNSSEC. Through its financial backing for NLnet Labs, SIDN aims to support not only the continued development of DNS applications such as Unbound and NSD, but also NLnet Labs’ general internet R&D work, at least for the next five years.

Internet community
Not-for-profit organisation NLnet Labs was set up in 1999 and is dedicated to creating open source software and helping to develop open standards. Unbound – NLnet Labs’ DNS software – is widely used by the likes of leading Dutch internet service providers XS4All and T-Mobile. NLnet Labs is also closely involved with the development and standardisation of DNSSEC: a security extension to the existing DNS protocol. DNSSEC gives internet users the assurance that they are not being diverted to fraudulent lookalike websites when they use genuine domain names.

“NLnet Labs is a Dutch organisation with a high profile in the global internet community,” said SIDN’s CEO Roelof Meijer. “The DNS applications that they develop are popular with users all over the world. So the work that NLnet Labs does is very important – not least for the Dutch internet community and thus for many of our registrars. We are very pleased to be helping to ensure that NLnet Labs’ good work continues for years to come. The collaboration also dovetails neatly with our own R&D programme, SIDN Labs.“

Olaf Kolkman, CEO of NLnet Labs, commented: “The agreement with SIDN is very important for NLnet Labs. I see it as recognition of our work, which focuses on the technology that connects networks to a global internet. An internet that in turn serves as an engine of economic and social progress. SIDN’s support helps us continue striving to improve the security and stability of the internet. The financial agreement also reinforces the excellent working relations that have existed between our organisations for some time. ”