Digital Britain implementation plan: Government seeks control of ... - ComputerWeekly

[Acorn Newsbot]

Digital Britain implementation plan: Government seeks control of ...
ComputerWeekly.com
The government wants to reserve the right to allocate internet domain names under the implementation plan for Digital Britain published today. ...

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[retired_member6]

Reserving in law the right to control the distribution of domain names through an agency such as communications regulator Ofcom. Nominet presently registers and manages UK domain names in an agreement with US-based Icann (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers).

What's that mean?

 

[scooter]

This means they want to write their own rules with regards to UK domain names and take control off Nominet

It may change to uk residents only. It may change the number of domains a person/company can own. :shock:

Who knows. Apart from they want to reset the rules.

.

 

[retired_member6]

This means they want to write their own rules with regards to UK domain names and take control off Nominet

It may change to uk residents only. It may change the number of domains a person/company can own. :shock:

Who knows. Apart from they want to reset the rules.

.

So much for a consultation... government department to do "something" with no consultation. I hate socialists.

 

[scooter]

Actually, it says it in the very first paragraph:

The government wants to reserve the right to allocate internet domain names under the implementation plan for Digital Britain published today.


Quite worrying.

.

 

[retired_member6]

Actually, it says it in the very first paragraph:

The government wants to reserve the right to allocate internet domain names under the implementation plan for Digital Britain published today.


Quite worrying.

.

Yes but doesnt inform why, how or what part of the consultation meant which new rules would be in place. Oh well, hopefully the conservatives will turn anything they do around.

 

[julian]

so the Gov could get the power to reallocate everyones portfolio? - ouch. thats gunna be painful for quite a few people..

- just think, all the hoarders who could have sold their names 10x over in the last 10 years could actually lose them for nowt..

 

[rush]

A quote from the main Digital Britain report:

21. For years the .uk domain name industry has been self regulated without need for Government intervention and this has largely worked well. Nominet has ensured at the same time that all wider stakeholder interests are taken into account. There have however been reported abuses of the domain name system such as cyber-squatting, drop catching, pressure sales of domain names and poor registration practices. If the successful self-regulation were to fail through a failure to address the concerns identified in the Nominet governance review, then the Government would have to intervene in order to protect consumer interests and guarantee Internet users in the UK that the domain name system will remain coherent and continue to function in their interest.

22. In view of this, the Government has decided that on a precautionary basis it will seek reserve powers in any appropriate forthcoming legislation to regulate against the risk that the entry into the sector of a number of new, and as yet unidentified, players will mean we need a basis for industry cooperation. These powers may, for example, enable the Government to direct Ofcom to regulate the distribution of domain names in the UK, possibly by setting conditions and establishing a code of practice to which the industry would be required to conform.

Keep an eye out for those 'new players'...whoever they may be...

 

[julian]

ahhh.. so its all you naughty drop catchers upsetting everyone, and givng us all a bad name

paragraph 21. page 199

anyone from the PAB or nom care to shed some light on this?

 

[retired_member6]

so the Gov could get the power to reallocate everyones portfolio? - ouch. thats gunna be painful for quite a few people..

- just think, all the hoarders who could have sold their names 10x over in the last 10 years could actually lose them for nowt..

Not without some kind of reimbursement I shouldn't think and court cases.

 

[golddiggerguy]

£6 per domain LOL

 

[retired_member6]

£6 per domain LOL

A government dept. can't do too much or they're infringe on companies house, companies house can't control them as they need to stay impartial to parties in someway or another. I really can't see the government doing too much for fear of being communist in nature, so much that russia would laugh.

 

[GreyWing]

Well I would have been worried about this before I stood for non exec but once you see the turn out of votes at Nom's agm then you can see why they want to safeguard things. 500 votes were cast out of 2800, members who control nominet aren't really bothered if you ask me.

A few big players (maybe the new players the government are on about) have 3% of the vote, one and one, sedo, domcollect all have 3% each. That's not including fasthosts and what ever other affiliations they hold.

We saw the power as Nora was elected, now what happens next time if Sedo send another candidate and all their proxy companies vote for that candidate. Then sedo and that little group have 2 board members, then they might get 2 to stand at the same time. Before you know it, sedo and that small band of companies are holding control at Nominet.

To me I think it is a good move if they have the powers there waiting should anything go wrong with a take over battle from these companies.

I would welcome not regulation but oversight from a group such as ofcom.

 

[retired_member6]

The voting is all wrong anyway, stupid to allow votes due to domain holding. Which idiot thought that up?

 

[tifosi]

This is relatively 'old news'. It's all to do with the so called 'secondary market' takeover of Nominet and the BBER's response coinciding with this report which was more of a general white paper on the 'role' of the government in the internet. The takeover was never there IMO and just a sweaty palms response to growing unrest. The last election put some reasonable people 'on board' that seemed to assuage Mr Hendon et al. The ongoing consultation is another part... you are involved in it aren't you apart from moaning on here??

The issue is that we have this massive global thing called 'The Internet' or to oldies the World Wide Web that a government full of people just getting used to phones you can actually walk round with... without a cord! is now realising they have pretty much no control over. They've even just realised they don't have much say in the UK namespace. The infrastructure is 'controlled' by others - whether it's backbone pipes, ISP's, BT, Nominet, 'US & european countries' - heaven forbid!

It's the UK's own wild west, the people are running scared, there's gold in them there hills, and there's no sheriff... so in walks Mr Hendon with a shiny set of spurs and a posse of clipboard toting wannabes.

If David Hendon's abysmal naievity over the internet - if his *shocking* response to Nora's last question at the AGM is anything to go on - is typical of the rest of the government then they have a steep learning curve ahead... and a big responsibility on Nominet to teach them PROPERLY.

Then again, within 9months New/Old/Fraud Labour will be out and a new set of lackies for the Civil Service to fawn over will be in and the process will start again

To say that they'll just take domains off people is a bit of a scaremongering response - I'd like to see some of the multi-million US lawsuits against Nominet/ICANN/UK Inc. if that was ever an issue. More it's a UK government response to the growing issue of phishing & the like... which is perpotrated mainly by .ru & .cn names unless you've not read all your headers in your spam.

As I've said before this is just a forum. The ongoing consultation is the real marketplace. And I've not seen much of you lot or other greydog members of the UK domain industry actually putting your money where your mouth is.

S

 

[scooter]

Not without some kind of reimbursement I shouldn't think and court cases.

On the contrary. There would be nothing to stop the government stepping in, setting up a new charter, governed by a new/different organisation and changing the t&c's so as to effect each new reg or renewal as they come round.

The very first paragraph spells this out. They want to reserve the right to allocate internet domain names.


I was speaking to Domainking last week and he presented the "what if" scenario:

What if Nominet or whatever organisation designated to govern the UK space decided the best way to protect the industry was to significantly increase the reg price. For a normal small business a reg fee of £50 would be nothing.

To domainers, it would be a bombshell and would end domaining as we know it overnight. I've got 400 names. I've not got a spare £20K every 2 years. Large portfolios would cease in an instant.

Yes, they would loose a significant amount of revenue overnight as well, but i don't think this would bother them. As they say, they want to protect the UK namespace.

I think they would like to go down the same route as Ireland whereby you have to prove you have a right to a name before they will allocate it to you. Has anyone ever heard/seen an .ie domain sale? I've not.

.

 

[sedo]

Morning! Thought I'd drop in with a quick response re Greywing's post and voting at Nominet - the individual brands of a Group, or linked, Membership (like UI) do not get separate voting allocations.

Even with the support of a large Member like UI, an election candidate at Nominet for Non Exec would need the support of several other larger members and multiple smaller members too in order to win. Looking at the voting results, it was pointed out to me that those smaller members ultimately made the difference between my candidacy and the next closest - maybe goes some way to show that the power is not all in the hands of the top twenty Members...
Best wishes,
Nora (posting from Sedo)

 

[retired_member6]

Government will be out of luck trying to higher the price to business, most find £50 at reseller unacceptable and if they're £50 at cost, then catch price goes up too, as does end user cost. I still can't them handing them out either, companies house would have a job doing it with various tm holders and different classes, so doubt any other single agency could do it, too late to do things at the front end, I think if anything occurs it will be legislation in the lords from various green and white papers to secure nominet control should any votes go wrong.

Additional comment, because as bad as it is to say, you can't have one company or a foreign source running a government job, although that don't seem to matter when selling car company control and energy supplies with this lot.