Nominet announces programme for evolving the .uk domain name space

[simondooner]

Following my post yesterday I decided to email a number of friends and Internet aware business owners highlighting the current position… it caused quite a stir!

In fact someone sent me an image that I thought I’d share with you. I believe it is a spoof of an image used on Nominet’s A Great Place To Be website but for me it seems to sum up the current proposals quite well.

Mods if you believe this image does not constitute “fair use” please feel free to remove it… I wouldn’t wish to infringe any rights.

 

[Jump]

Will be interesting to see the arm wrestles over the names that record a whois of:

"Registered on: before Aug-1996"

For example, where two names record this value.

 

[Nigel]

Nominet started out saying the new .uk would be a domain for businesses but they're now saying that a .me.uk (intended for a personal name) or a .org.uk (intended for non profits) owner may well be given priority rights to the .uk. So they'll certainly have to rephrase the purpose of the new .uk. It would be a misrepresentation to say that it will be a domain for businesses. They'll probably have to market it along these lines:

.uk is for anyone. You can use it for a personal name, you can use it if you're a charity, you can use it for a business. Anyone in uk can use .uk!

 

[redbird]

Will be interesting to see the arm wrestles over the names that record a whois of:

"Registered on: before Aug-1996"

For example, where two names record this value.

I've never understood why whois says that as a DAC check will show the actual date.

 

[foz]

.uk will be for all, the business angle is nonsense.

 

[Nigel]

What about Nominet's two letter auction winners?

Have nominet commented on the 2011 two letter auction and who gets priority rights - or as is usual with nominet are they letting the winnners sweat it out having taken all their money?

From what I can see the least valuable domains were auctioned first i.e.

.me.uk around June-July 2011

.org.uk around August 2011

.co.uk around Sept 2011

Bearing in mind that most of the £3m auction proceeds came from the .co.uk domains you would expect, in any normal world, that they would be first in line to the .uk. Have nominet made any comment on this situation?

 

[Nigel]

Not yet because the formal v2 proposal hasn't yet been published.


(from iPhone)

thanks - worth noting that the release of domains in this auction shows nominet's own thinking on the value of domains and the right pecking order i.e. .co.uk was king

 

[simondooner]

Such a radical shake-up in the UK domain space should be done only for a very, very good reason… one of national importance to the UK, the economy perhaps?

Facilitating accelerated national economic growth, improvements in global competitiveness, more jobs etc… should be Nominet’s true objectives in making any changes of this nature. They have responsibility for a truly strategic national asset and should use it to the benefit of the UK.

Splitting their “prized asset” (.co.uk) in two is not the way to do this. It will lead to massive public confusion, significant extra costs, business failures, lost jobs etc. It will also act to dilute the strength of .co.uk, the second largest ccTLD – the Romans figured out the concept of divide and conquer over 2000 years ago. Going forward… we could well be left with two mediocre domains fighting against each other that eventually become the “damp squib” of the G20 countries and beyond.

At over 8% of national GDP and growing, the Internet is commercially critical to the UK. This is a “big picture” decision, one that potentially has an impact way beyond domains.

I fail to see how a personal blog on a .me.uk trumping an established business on a .co.uk to the .uk domain will achieve improved economic competitiveness for our country.

If Nominet can not settle on a solution that both protects UK business and also enhances its opportunities for growth then this direct.uk proposal should not proceed.

If Nominet are hell-bent on forcing this through regardless, responsibility for this “national treasure” should be taken from them.

 

[Retired_Member38]

Splitting their “prized asset” (.co.uk) in two is not the way to do this. It will lead to massive public confusion, significant extra costs, business failures, lost jobs etc. It will also act to dilute the strength of .co.uk, the second largest ccTLD – the Romans figured out the concept of divide and conquer over 2000 years ago. Going forward… we could well be left with two mediocre domains fighting against each other that eventually become the “damp squib” of the G20 countries and beyond.

Its impossible to take your posts seriously when you're making comments like that.

 

[websaway]

Its impossible to take your posts seriously when you're making comments like that.

Reads like he's bang on to me.

 

[Retired_Member38]

Really.... so a company not getting a .uk domain is going to send them under?

 

[websaway]

Nominet started out saying the new .uk would be a domain for businesses but they're now saying that a .me.uk (intended for a personal name) or a .org.uk (intended for non profits) owner may well be given priority rights to the .uk. So they'll certainly have to rephrase the purpose of the new .uk. It would be a misrepresentation to say that it will be a domain for businesses. They'll probably have to market it along these lines:

.uk is for anyone. You can use it for a personal name, you can use it if you're a charity, you can use it for a business. Anyone in uk can use .uk!

I think that's where they see it, an absolute cash cow.

 

[websaway]

Really.... so a company not getting a .uk domain is going to send them under?

depends on the circumstances of course.

 

[Retired_Member38]

depends on the circumstances of course.

Can you give us an example set of circumstances where losing a .uk domain would send a company under? It seems to me that if that happened, the company was about to go under anyway and nothing was going to save it.

 

[foz]

I think that's where they see it, an absolute cash cow.

If Nominet weren't interested in the cash they would provide .uk to applicants for free. No chance of course.

 

[Stephen]

Stats and Data

When Nominet shorlty do the formal presentation of .uk version 2.0,
I hope they will provide some back up evidence this time to support their suggested way forward and hopefully a study or 2 with real data.

This lack of evidence and data was pointed out by many people as being a flaw in Version 1.

I would not just like to see the comments on version 1 being hijacked selectively to support version 2,
I mean a real .uk study with proper questions and analysis/data mining.

 

[Retired_Member42]

Can you give us an example set of circumstances where losing a .uk domain would send a company under? It seems to me that if that happened, the company was about to go under anyway and nothing was going to save it.

There are tons of scenarios. Obviously nobody is going to buy from a .co.uk when a .uk comes out! They'll just think it's a cheap copy of the company they're really looking for. Honestly, if .co.uk businesses don't get the .uk version of the name then they may as well just close up shop! It'd be an absolute disaster for them. I for one will completely boycott any online business that doesn't have the .uk version of their name. How can you take them seriously? They can't even afford a proper domain name, no way they'll provide a good product or service. My boss is really worried about it. Just this morning he called a meeting saying that if we don't acquire the .uk version of our domain he'll have to lay off 10,000 staff. Worrying times for businesses!

 

[Murray]

There are tons of scenarios. Obviously nobody is going to buy from a .co.uk when a .uk comes out! They'll just think it's a cheap copy of the company they're really looking for.

I really don't understand how you've come to that conclusion.

 

[websaway]

Can you give us an example set of circumstances where losing a .uk domain would send a company under? It seems to me that if that happened, the company was about to go under anyway and nothing was going to save it.

I'm sure you can use your own imagination on that one.

 

[Retired_Member42]

Personally I think all .org.uk owners should get first crack at the .uk. Given that they're all non-profit organisations or charities it seems like the right thing to do. They've had to endure years on the lesser extension and as they don't make any money, they should be given the first refusal. Perhaps a deal where the non-profit .org.uk is awarded the .uk domain and the .co.uk (commercial) entity then has first refusal to buy it from them. Given that only charities use .org.uk it seems a fair thing to do and will give them the funding they need to make a difference in the world.