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- Jan 7, 2013
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It would be a good result to get Nominet to delay the .UK Decision until 2015 by campaigning. The strongest argument against is CO.UK in the medium term is likely to become a legacy product because both Scotland and Wales now aim for separate TLDs. Under ICANN's new gTLD applications in 2012 Dot Scot Registry Limited (http://www.dot-scot.org) applied for .SCOT & Nominet.UK itself applied for .CYMRU . If awarded, .SCOT rejects Nominet's authority outright.
It is not Nominet's task to hold together the United Kingdom. But neither should it be to stick the boot in. The bets are on that Scotland votes for independency in a 2014 referendum. That will leave CO.UK in the long term as a legacy product, especially since .CYMRU could also quickly become the de facto TLD in Wales because of their language politics. It would only be a matter of time before Nominet would be forced by popular opinion to create .ENG or some other TLD to appease English sentiments.
None of the above is a problem for CO.UK holders, provided .UK never exists (beyond the odd police.UK!) Significant number of Welsh, and especially Scottish companies, could choose to stick with CO.UK to exploit consumer brand awareness internationally or simply to show their dislike of independency arguments. The same could apply even should .ENG or the like be created. However all such bets are off should .UK be created & if successfully adopted.
I say "if". Nominet is reacting to external events to exploit a very small window of opportunity for financial gain. It will fail. The Scots referendum of 2014 & ICANN's new gTLD applications of 2012 are calling the shots. Unless the 2014 referendum is rejected, which seems unlikely, there is not enough for .UK to be established before it becomes outdated & irrelevant. Should Nominet pursue this course of action proposed, it is unlikely Nominet itself would survive the fallout.
In addition there is a strong argument eventual global economic recovery will depend on part on TLD reformation. For instance there is a potential role in the Greek currency reversion idea, as outlined on http://www.eurodrachma.de/domain-name-reform.html . More importantly, opponents to ICANN's global monopoly question their lack of thought over classification & taxation etc. Domain name reform is only just beginning to be understood as the primary vehicle for future economic prosperity rather than a cash cow to be milked willy-nilly by legislative tinkers.
Nominet must hold steadfast with CO.UK against a background of political & economic uncertainty at home & abroad. As a legacy product, post 2014, CO.UK will serve communities as a unifying force to be trusted as a choice to stick with as .SCOT & other future TLDs are bandied about. Create .UK and you destroy all that, both the long term legacy value of CO.UK & eventually Nominet itself. Now is the time for Nominet to declare that it has properly consulted on this issue and forever consigned it to the dustbin, at least until 2015!
It is not Nominet's task to hold together the United Kingdom. But neither should it be to stick the boot in. The bets are on that Scotland votes for independency in a 2014 referendum. That will leave CO.UK in the long term as a legacy product, especially since .CYMRU could also quickly become the de facto TLD in Wales because of their language politics. It would only be a matter of time before Nominet would be forced by popular opinion to create .ENG or some other TLD to appease English sentiments.
None of the above is a problem for CO.UK holders, provided .UK never exists (beyond the odd police.UK!) Significant number of Welsh, and especially Scottish companies, could choose to stick with CO.UK to exploit consumer brand awareness internationally or simply to show their dislike of independency arguments. The same could apply even should .ENG or the like be created. However all such bets are off should .UK be created & if successfully adopted.
I say "if". Nominet is reacting to external events to exploit a very small window of opportunity for financial gain. It will fail. The Scots referendum of 2014 & ICANN's new gTLD applications of 2012 are calling the shots. Unless the 2014 referendum is rejected, which seems unlikely, there is not enough for .UK to be established before it becomes outdated & irrelevant. Should Nominet pursue this course of action proposed, it is unlikely Nominet itself would survive the fallout.
In addition there is a strong argument eventual global economic recovery will depend on part on TLD reformation. For instance there is a potential role in the Greek currency reversion idea, as outlined on http://www.eurodrachma.de/domain-name-reform.html . More importantly, opponents to ICANN's global monopoly question their lack of thought over classification & taxation etc. Domain name reform is only just beginning to be understood as the primary vehicle for future economic prosperity rather than a cash cow to be milked willy-nilly by legislative tinkers.
Nominet must hold steadfast with CO.UK against a background of political & economic uncertainty at home & abroad. As a legacy product, post 2014, CO.UK will serve communities as a unifying force to be trusted as a choice to stick with as .SCOT & other future TLDs are bandied about. Create .UK and you destroy all that, both the long term legacy value of CO.UK & eventually Nominet itself. Now is the time for Nominet to declare that it has properly consulted on this issue and forever consigned it to the dustbin, at least until 2015!
