FAQ

First, choose a domain name and verify its availability using the query protocol Whois.
After you have confirmed the domain name’s availability, you may contact one of the ISOC-IL Accredited Registrars and register the domain through them.
The registrar will be able to guide you through the whole processes of registering your domain name.
Please review the Guide to Domain Name Registration for detailed instructions.

There are limitations that described in the registration rules, such as:

• A Latin Domain Name must be between 3 and 63 characters long.
• A Latin Domain Name Must not begin or end with a hyphen (“-“).
• Must not contain two consecutive hyphens (“—”)
• Must not be identical to any existing Top Level Domain name in the global Internet (at the time the application is submitted) and must not be the string “www”.
• Must comply with the technical requirements of DNS in effect at the time that the application is submitted
• Domain Names containing obscene words and names incorporating foul language; names that are injurious to public order or to public sensibilities, or names that otherwise do not comply with the laws of the State of Israel.

Domain Names which have not been renewed are not revoked on the very day of their expiration, in the same way electricity is not being cut off on bill due date. A Domain Name might be related to activity that is highly valuable and essential to its holder. Deleting a Domain Name on the expiration day, without prior notice, while disconnecting its activity from the network, may cause considerable damage. For this reason, the deletion process is being done carefully, while sending in-advance notices to the holder. Of course this time period cannot be unlimited. Hence, a Domain in a status of “not renewed being revoked” is not deleted, but becomes a ‘frozen’ Domain, about to be deleted. The final deletion takes place between 30 to 120 days after the expiration date – a period of time during which the Registrar takes measures to inform the domain holder about his Domain Name registration being about to expire. A Domain Name registration may be renewed as long as the Domain Name has not been deleted. Once deletion from the registry has taken place, a whois query for this domain name will result in a statement that such a domain name does not exist; from this moment on, one may apply to register this name as a new domain name.

All applications for registration of a new Domain Name are being checked for compliance with the registration rules for the .il ccTLD prior to approval, which is not automatic. Checking procedures may take up to several days; in most cases though, approval is given within one working day. One has to bear in kind that the Domain Name registration procedure at the Israel Internet Association website is mainly a technical procedure. Any possible legal implications related to the registration of certain Domain Names and to their holding should be checked out in advance, prior to registration, by the person submitting the registration application. By submitting a registration application, the applicant warrants that the registration of the requested Domain Name does not violate the rights of third parties.

Both org.il and co.il are open Second Level Domains (“SLD”). Domain Names can be registered under them with no constraints in regard of the holder’s identity or the use being made of the Domain Name (within the boundaries of law, of course). Nevertheless, one has to bear in mind that the purpose of Domain Names is to help users find their way through the web; users would not expect a business company to operate under a SLD intended for NGOs and vice versa. Anybody doing such a thing should be aware of the fact that he/she is not tapping full potential of Domain Names as a device designed to help finding his/her site in the web.

You can use the WHOIS to check whether a domain has already been registered or whether it is still available for registration.

You can read all about the procedure on Transferring between registrars

A transfer authorization code is required to perform domain name management transfer from one Registrar to another. The  Code is generated by the Losing Registrar per the request of the Domain Name Holder to assist in identifying the applicant for transfer of management.

To become globally accessible, a newly registered domain must be included in the .il zone, the same applies to updates of name server records for domains that are already in the zone. Normally, the update is implemented 5 times a day, and afterwards the zone will include all changes that have been confirmed by ISOC – IL prior to the update.

Renewing your Domain Name is done through your registrar. If you wish to renew the domain name using a different registrar, you must first request a transfer to a new registrar and then renew your domain name registration.

You may renew your domain for up to two years.

If you want to delete your domain you should contact your registrar. For farther information please read – Deleting a domain

Transfer Authorization Code is a unique digit/number combination that serves as a confirmation code  in the event of registrar transfer.  The domain holder can request the Transfer Authorization Code from his registrar at any time. Once you have received the Authorization Code, you communicate it to your new registrar so that he can transfer your domain. Transfer Authorization Code is a code that adds a layer of security that protects the Domain Name in the process of transferring from one Registrar to another, allowing only the Domain Name Holder to initiate a transfer request. More information about Transfer Authorization Code.

To transfer your domain name to a different registrant, please contact the registrar with which the domain is registered. For farther information please read – Reassignment

It is very important to keep your contact information updated so that you receive important notifications about your domain name from your registrar or others such as the IL-DRP panelist.
These messages are usually sent via email, and if your email is not updated, you may not receive important notifications that are designed for your protection.
For example, renewal remainder, notification about modification in the domain, transfer authorization code.

Registration, almost everywhere in the world and in Israel, is based on the “first come, first served” principle, meaning that whoever submitted first a valid registration application to the Registry will have his application processed first. Domain Name registration services as provided by Registries are largely technical in nature; there is no entity who has a vested right to register a certain Domain Name or another. This said, it is the registrant’s responsibility to make sure that the registration of the requested Domain Name does not interfere with the rights of third parties. During registration, the applicant must actually sign a warranty statement that he does not violate any such rights. As part of the services offered to the users, the Internet Association operates a service for rapid resolution of disputes related to Domain Name registration, the IL-DRP. While the Internet Association is not a party to these proceedings, it agrees in advance to accept the ruling. Whoever thinks that registration of a certain Domain Name per-se (to be distinguished from the use made of this Domain Name) is violating his rights may appeal to the ILDRP.

In case of harmful contents displayed on a website, you should seek appropriate legal counsel. The Israel Internet Association cannot be held responsible for this, as it is not running the websites operating under the assigned domain names.

The IL-DRP is an alternative dispute resolution procedure intended to provide expedited resolution for disputes regarding the allocation of Domain Names under the .IL ccTLD in accordance with the Rules for Allocation of Domain Names under .IL.
For more information please read the il-drp Procedures

Accredited registrars are entities who have been accredited by the Israeli Internet Association to provide registration services. The list of Accredited Registrars is available here.

If you encounter a problem with one of the Accredited Registrars, you may report about it to the Israel Internet Association at: [email protected] with the following subject line: “Reporting a registrar”. The Israel Internet Association will examine the complaint and act accordingly.

Only companies and organizations can become ISOC-IL Accredited Registrars. Individuals can not be accredited. Companies and organizations interested in becoming accredited registrars, will go through an accreditation process, please refer to the accreditation info page.

The application form should be completed and be submitted to ISOC-IL along with all the information and documents required. The form is a proposal by the applicant to ISOC-IL to become an accredited registrar. If the applicant meets the initial criteria, ISOC-IL will sign the accreditation agreement with the applicant. Signing the agreement is not the accreditation. Only after the registrar demonstrates a client that is able to perform the entire set of registration actions against the registry server will the regsitrar receive from ISOC-IL an accreditation approval and the status of an accredited regsitrar. All the information can be found here.

The initial accreditation period is one year. However, as long as the registrar meets all the accreditation requirements set forth in the accreditation agreement, the accreditation will be automatically renewed, each time for an additional period of one year.

The accreditation agreement can be viewed at the legal info page

ISOC-IL provides a test-bed to allow registrars to test the clients they implemented for correct operation. For further information on the test-bed please refer to the technical info page.

Please refer to the technical info page.

DS records are updated with a registrar. There are registrars where the record can be updated through the management interface and there are registrars that execute this update manually by contacting the support department. Upon completion of the update, you can make sure the DS record has been added through a Whois inquiry. Signed domains appear under the status “signed” in the DNSSEC field. Please note that not all registrars authorized to register .il or .ישראל (.Israel in Hebrew) provide this service. The list of authorized registrars shows who enables this, by the green logo.

There are various free-of-charge tools on the web which enable this, such as:

• The tool DNSViz at the site: dnsviz.net
• The Verisign tool at the site: dnssec-debugger.verisignlabs.com
• The tool of the Netherlands registrar .nl: internet.nl

Updating the DS in the registry is the last stage in the signing process. It is important to understand this, since if there happens to be a compatibility problem between the signing keys in different levels of the “chain of trust,” validation of the domain will not be possible, it will be considered fake and in effect, access to the domain will be impaired. In any case, before approving the DS update request, the registry conducts a test and validates that the domain is indeed signed and only after this has been validated is the update request executed. In practice, this test protects holders from execution of an incorrect update which would lead to a failure in access to the site. As long as the DS has not been published, from the global perspective DNSSEC has not been activated. Manipulations can be executed, such as deletion, key replacement etc., without impairing the site’s accessibility.

Domains that are DNSSEC signed have four features that together comprise the signature itself:

• Key Tag – Indicates the serial number of the KSK the DS concerns (a five-digit number).
• Algorithm – Indicates the algorithm of the KSK concerned (1/3/5/7/8/10/13).
• Digest Type – Indicates the type of hash executed (the current standard is SHA2).
• Digest – The KSK’s fingerprint, the hash value (a long sequence of numbers and letters).

These four features are received from the supplier who manages the DNS and signs the site’s zone. They must be updated in the registrar’s domain management interface.

No. Setting DNSSEC requires maintenance every few years.
The ability of malicious entities to guess a cryptographic key is a function of processing power and time. Therefore, you must make sure to replace keys periodically, which is called “key rollover”.

Remember: After key rollover, the new public key cannot validate a signature made using the old private key. Therefore, publishing a new key requires execution of a new signature.

As long as there is information that is signed by any key, the compatible public key (the one that validates the signature) must still be supplied.

Updating DS records is a sensitive operation and therefore it should be executed carefully and in two stages. The operation must be executed with the registrar, through a DS update request.

1. In the first stage, the new DS record granted to you by your DNS supplier should be added.
2.  After the update has been executed successfully, we recommend waiting 24 hours before submitting a request to remove the previous DS record.

When switching to another DNS supplier, first remove the DS record and update the new servers so the domain will direct to them. If you also want to sign the domain through the new DNS supplier, you will need to update a new DS record.

The distribution process for the .il DNS occurs seven times a day, at 7:00, 11:00, 13:00, 15:00, 17:00, 19:00 and 21:00. The distribution times for the ישראל. (.Israel in Hebrew) domain: 8:00, 12:00, 14:00, 18:00, and 22:00.

The updated servers are distributed in the next update. Following the update, it may take up to approx. 48 hours until the internet suppliers’ servers are updated with the new information from our servers.

In case, for some reason, there is a need to stop the DNSSEC on a particular domain, the process is the reverse of signing: first you must remove the DS through the registrar and only then can keys in the DNS supplier be changed or removed. After the DS has been removed, the domain can be treated as a “regular” domain that is not signed, even if it still contains keys and signatures. Only when there is no DS record can keys be deleted.

Remember:

• It is forbidden! To delete a KSK before the related DS has first been removed.
• Remember that from the moment the DS has been removed, you must wait long enough (the record’s TTL) for the change to be recorded worldwide.
• DS Removal is not an operation executed within regular operations. This is an operation that should be executed only as a last course of action in case of an emergency or a malfunction that would cause a system shutdown.

In the transfer process between registrars, the DS record is transferred as-is. After completion of the transfer, make sure the DS record is indeed updated in the registrar’s management interface, and that it can be removed or added / a new record can be updated.

• The DS record is not updated.
• You changed DNS but did not remove the DS record from the domain’s settings.
• The KSK was deleted before the DS that refers to it was removed first. .

“WHOIS” is a generic term used to describe an online directory service that allows people to look up information about Internet domain names. ISOC-IL maintains a WHOIS look-up directory which permits queries to the .IL Registry database to determine the availability of .IL domain names or to view the registration information provided by Registrants who have registered a .il domain name.

Using the whois service, the details provided in the whois service are those listed in the Registry. To query for a Domain Name, type it without the “www” string. For example, in order to search for information about the Domain Name of the Israel Internet Association type: isoc.org.il.

The purpose of the DNS (Domain Name System) is to make it easier for the web user to find his way through the web by using addresses that are more user friendly and easier to remember than numeric ones (the IP-address, by means of which each computer is identified on the web). This way the user is able to reach the Israel Internet Association’s website, for example, by entering the string www.isoc.org.il into the browser, instead of the IP address: http://192.115.211.11. The DNS system translates the familiar Domain Names to their respective IP addresses.

A Top Level Domain marks the initial division of the Internet’s global Name Space into two major types of Domain Names: Domain Names denoting a country or a territory, like “.il” for Israel, and Domain Names denoting global Name Spaces, like “.com”.
Domain Names denoting countries are called “country code Top Level Domain” or “ccTLD”. “.il” is a ccTLD.
Global Domain Names are called “generic Top Level Domain” or “gTLD”. “.com” is a gTLD.
The Top Level Domains are the rightmost label in a Domain Name.
A “Name Space” is the group of all the Domain Names registered under a particular TLD.
A “Second Level Domain” or “SLD” is the label adjacent to the TLD. In “isoc.org.il”, “org” is the SLD.

A Domain Name Registry consists of the computer infrastructure and the data base required for the management of a Top Level Domain. In Israel, the “.il” ccTLD is being managed by the Israeli Internet Association.

Domain Name Registrars are private entities accredited by the Israel Internet Association to provide Domain Name registration services to Internet users. In their provision of their registration services, the Registrars are making use of the Registry’s infrastructure. As mentioned in the answer above, while there is only one Registry per TLD, there can be many Registrars. In such way, users are provided with a large choice of different service providers.

Not necessarily. When a delegation of a Domain Name in the registry is not active (for instance, because the Domain Name is in “on hold” or because the registration was deleted), or when there is a technical problem with the resolution of the Domain Name (as for instance in case the site was redirected to servers which have not yet been configured to serve that Domain Name, or when there are errors in the delegation settings or when the servers to which the registry delegated are not functioning). What actually happens is that the website is not accessible through the Domain Name, since the resolving process of the Domain Name is not functioning properly. This has nothing to do with the website’s content though, as the content is not being controlled by DNS; if the content has not been deleted from the web server, then the content is still there. Once the problem in the DNS settings will be solved (for instance, upon re-registration of a deleted Domain Name, or renewal of a Domain Name which was ut “on hold”, or when the web server will return to action), then the website shall be accessible again also by means of the Domain Name, without need for any further actions.

ISOC-IL is Israel’s ccTLD registry, managing the registration of .il and ישראל. domain names. However, it does not have the authority to monitor or control the content or activities on the websites associated with these domain names.

Therefore, if you suspect that a certain domain is being used for unlawful activities (phishing, identity theft, illegal trade, abusive content, etc.), please contact the appropriate authorities (namely the Israel Police or CERT) who can confirm that the activity you reported is indeed illegal and bring the relevant party to justice.

• To file a complaint with the police – Click here
• To contact the CERT (a division of the National Cyber Directorate)- Send an email to [email protected] or call 119. For more information visit the official website.

ISOC-IL, as the national domain registry, will of course abide by any formal ruling issued by a competent court regarding a given domain name.

In addition, ISOC-IL maintains the Whois service as a public resource, allowing access to .il and ישראל. domain holders’ contact information. In relevant cases, you can directly contact them about activity taking place on domains under their holdership.

In the event that incorrect or outdated contact information is listed on the WHOIS database and you are unable to reach the holder of a domain, you can file a complaint about incorrect WHOIS details.

Find out more information about ccTLDs and their technical role in relation to content online by watching this video, produced by CENTR: