Can a .me.uk be owned by a non-individual?

[cav]

Can a .me.uk be legally owned by a company or any other trading entity? Or does it always have to be owned by an individual?

 

[cav]

Many thanks Invincible; excellent link

I assume then (I think) that a business, eventhough it is a legal person (corporation) rather than a natural person, could develop an internet presence on a general product .me.uk domain name (e.g. phones.me.uk)

 

[accelerator]

EDIT - It looks as though the Nominet rules for .me.uk have moved on from those specified in the DRS below. I would say that the .me.uk extension is intended to be registered by an individual.


The registration of .me.uk generic keyphrase type domains is now common by web developer / domainer types. As far as I am aware, none of these registrations have been challenged on the basis of the entity type that registered them. To get the domain taken off you, I would imagine this only happening if you were committing an abusive registration, e.g. trademark abuse. Otherwise, I would not anticipate action being taken. Even if Nominet took exception, which I doubt they ever would, it would be a waste of their time and resources to start challenging .me.uk registrations. This however is not professional advice! If you were more concerned you could just register the domain under your own name, as this would be more in the "spirit" of .me.uk.

I haven't read the whole of the DRS, but here are some extracts:

“3. The .me.uk SLD is intended to provide a personal namespace within the .uk Top Level Domain. It is anticipated that registrants will be natural persons who have an association with the UK.

4. Any entity may register in the .me.uk SLD provided the registration complies with the Nominet UK terms and conditions, the Rules and the rules for the .me.uk SLD, in each case as amended from time to time.

... On first reading, one could be forgiven for believing that ‘.me.uk’ domain name registrations are only available to natural persons (as opposed to legal persons such as corporations). This is indeed the ‘mission statement’ set out in Rule 3.

However, on closer inspection of the Rules as currently drafted, it is apparent that Rule 3 is little more than a ‘mission statement’: Rule 4 provides that any entity may register a .me.uk domain name; and Rules 1 and 6 provide that the specific .me.uk Rules apply in addition to – rather than in substitution for – Nominet’s terms and conditions, the Rules for the .uk TLD and Nominet UK's Dispute Resolution Policy and Procedure."

Rgds

 

[armistice]

Registrants of .me.uk domain names must be, and remain at all times, natural persons, except domains registered before 25 October 2004 still held by the original owner or where a DRS action requires otherwise (in which case no use of the domain is permitted until it is transferred to a natural person.

Not all nominet staff are clued up on this, I specifically asked this and was told point blank that anyone could register without restriction. Only when a quoted their rules did they actually go away to check and then confirm the above is correct.

-----------------------
Direct from nominets domain rules page;

Specific rules for the .me.uk SLD
9.1 Introduction

These are the specific rules for the .me.uk SLD, administered directly by us. They form part of and, in the case of conflict, take precedence over the Rules.

9.2 Charter

The .me.uk SLD is intended to provide a personal namespace within the .uk Top Level Domain. Unless Rules 9.4 or 9.5 apply, registrants of .me.uk domain names must be, and remain at all times, natural persons (a “qualifying person”), and shall not be recorded on the register as being the agent, trustee, proxy or representative for any person or entity (whether having an individual legal personality or not) which is not a qualifying person.

9.3 No actions unless in accordance with the Charter

Unless Rules 9.4 or 9.5 apply, no registration, transfer, renewal or change may be requested to a .me.uk domain name which would be in breach of Rule 9.2, and any such request may be rejected. If, despite the previous sentence, such an action is requested and does occur, Nominet may reverse that action at any time in addition to any other rights Nominet may have by contract or otherwise.

9.4 Charter

9.4.1 Where, as the result of the DRS or judicial proceedings (of relevant jurisdiction) a .me.uk domain name is to be transferred to a person who would not qualify under Rule 9.2 (the “transferee”), the transfer to, and continued registration by, the transferee shall be permitted provided that no use is made of that .me.uk domain name for any purpose, for so long as the transferee holds the domain name.

9.4.2 To prevent a breach of Rule 9.4.1, Nominet may put the domain name into a special status e.g. by blocking the entry of any nameservers onto the record for that domain.

9.4.3 The transferee under clause 9.4.1 will be able to transfer the domain name to a qualifying person, in which case the specific restrictions imposed under this Rule 9.4 will cease to apply.

9.5 Transitional Arrangements

As a transitional measure, any .me.uk domain name registered before 25 October 2004 will not be subject to Rules 9.2 and 9.3 until it is next transferred or cancelled.

 

[accelerator]

OK, thanks for the input. I must say when I looked at the .me.uk rules last year my interpretation was that you should be an individual when registering them, and I shouldn't have used extracts from the DRS above when it looks like the rules have moved on.

Rgds