registering .DE domain

found an expired .de domain with decent backlink profile that I want to buy (im from Canada). Noticed there were a couple rules regarding the registering of .de domains, such as you must have proof of registered business in germany and such. On eurodns(dot)com it seems like like I could buy it easily, but they have a disclaimer saying I should respect the terms of .de domains etc etc..

Can you get around/bypass these rules, or just buy the domain and ignore them?

thx for any input

heh just ignore them (if you build something small) but if you build a big business than dont

I'd be careful using EuroDNS... There has been numerous amounts of people that have had their domain names stolen by them without even getting a refund. I'm in Canada as well and I tried to register a .de but turned away after finding out I need to be a German resident. We actually have similar rules with .ca which is that you must be either a legal resident/business in Canada and you are also prohibited from using WHOIS protection with a .ca domain name. There are several other countries that have the same rules (including Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and Germany). They have these restrictions for good reason which is to prevent fraud websites from being setup and to help prevent trademarking. One country that is smart is Russia because they allow anyone to register a .ru as long as they provide a valid passport number from whatever country you live in. I would consider passing on registering a .de unless you want to be scammed. I should also mention one good alternative would be a .eu domain name.

wow thanks a lot for the info guys. Btw i was actually trying to buy this expired domain for its backlink profile and potential PR value to build a blog network. Not a lot of work to do on my part. Anyway this is just around 20-25$ to setup so I might give this a shot. if eurodns ends up screwing me, then it guess its lesson learned and move on ;P

Expensive, but realiable:

mediaonXcom

A .DE domain name facilitates your company to provide relevant, localised information about your products and services to the local German market, hence maximise your company's revenues.

I have .de domain registered with internet.bs and no problems with it.