On 6.September 2013 at the IDC 2012 congress it has been decided that the breed standard is due to a change...for worst. Take a deep breath and sit down: Starting form 1.1.2015 dobermann will become and all-natural breed - no more cropping and docking! Even if you're from a county that allows it.
In fact, if you're from a county that allows it you can still do it but you can't compete at FCI dog shows (which basically means you can't compete at any show). Just like many things that are considers flaws according to dobermann standard (and if present they will decrease the score), there are some things that will totally prevent a dog from being judged, called disqualifying faults (like missing testicles in males, yellow eye, missing teeth, white spots on coat)...and now cropped ears and docked tail will also be considered a disqualifying fault. There's no need to guess what will become of dobermann breed, one should only look at what happened to the countries, that once ruled the dobermann world, since they introduced docking/cropping ban.
Yes, maybe looks aren't everything and people that already have a dobermann know how to appreciate a magnificent character that they have but it's hard to imaging that the new generations seeking a dog companion will settle for something that hardly resembles an image of a dobermann that they have in their mind. In our collective mind there's just room for one image of this dog and I bet it's not the variant with natural ears and tails.