I am interested in registering a ".de" domain using my name as a hack, but was blocked at the very last point in the transaction by a tick box confirming I (or an administrator) have a German address. My plan was to lie up until I was confronted about it 8-0
Name.com and GoDaddy seem to have "trustee" services where they take care of the address requirement on behalf of the purchaser. Each are a bit more than my preferred registrar: Namecheap. Name.com would be alright if necessary, but I would not give GoDaddy any business unless it was a final resort. All of my domains are with Namecheap, which do not offer that particular service. My Montenegro (.me) domain was obtained through them without issue, but ".de" has different requirements.
I understand that ".de" and other country-specific TDLs are popular for these type of hack registrations, so there must be either a way around or it is just not strictly enforced? Does anyone have experience with this?
Apparently it's the rule (http://www.denic.de/en/faq-single/277/246.html?cHash=95fb1743d3d62b8f1f46583e91cfce01).
Things could get messy if someone were to 'challenge' your domain/registration (I did it for an .it domain and won it because, among other things, the other party forgot to update their contact address and therefore missed an important notification).
As explained here (http://www.denic.de/en/faq-single/562/246.html?cHash=7fb20f8486c38bb471a4c935399baf96), the role of the 'contact' is purely administrative (they are not co-owning the domain); have you considered nagging german AGSers/mitteneers for an address?