Report: Get involved or lose your .uk domains

[Stephen]

Have finished a report "Get involved or lose your .uk domains".

It is aimed at people who don't know about .uk rather than to the level of knowledge of the domainers here.

I hope it helps move on the .uk debate and helps more people understand some of the complex issues.

Report can be downloaded at YourUK.org.uk go to pdf link and "save as"
(no prizes for web design - spent more time on report)

As always any comments, suggestions or questions are welcome.

After any feedback adjustments, I hope to get this circulated via PR to online/offline media.

 

[splashweb]

One point regarding contacting existing registrants. I challenged Nominet regarding the following paragraph from their site FAQ:

“If we proceed with the proposals as outlined in the consultation, we will email all registrants in advance of launch to inform them of the changes and let them know how to register their interest in securing the corresponding second-level domain.”

My point was: "I find myself at odds with this statement, as there are no changes to the current registrations, you are simply introducing a new product, so surely this will actually be just a promotional email that is unsolicited?"

Nominet's response: "With regards to emailing registrants of the right of first refusal, we appreciate that some will disagree with this approach however we have taken advice and believe this is most judicious way to proceed if the proposal goes ahead."

Make of it what you will, but I sense that most registrants will infact become aware of direct.uk if it goes ahead.

 

[GreyWing]

Make of it what you will, but I sense that most registrants will infact become aware of direct.uk if it goes ahead.

No chance at all mate, no chance (in fact when you say most, 51% is most I suppose and that leaves 5 million domains). The emails will go in the spam box or quickly deleted. What people need to understand is that uesrs get offers from OneandOne 123reg every day of the week offering them some crap new "must have" domain extension. Simply click and delete, remember nobody actually knows or cares who Nominet are.

I'm not going to tell you a percentage of people that won't read it. Nominet should have done research on that to convince people to go along with .uk, not us plucking a number out of thin air to convince people not to do .uk

Point is though, how is it legally right to not email people about a free consultation because it is spam and then email them with something you are selling and it's not spam.

 

[Stephen]

Email UK registrants

....Point is though, how is it legally right to not email people about a free consultation because it is spam and then email them with something you are selling and it's not spam.

On raising the issue of emails about the .uk consultation to the holders of the 10,000,000+ UK domains.

My email 28 07 2013

In the feedback on V1 .uk Nominet proposal it was stated that Nominet did look at sending emails to all registrants,
probably as many agree that the introduction of .uk would be the biggest change to the UK namespace since it began.

“Others however, specifically criticised Nominet for not directly emailing each of the registrants of domains in .co.uk and other second level .uk domains to draw their attention to the consultation.
After taking legal advice, Nominet considered that it would be disproportionate to use the registrant contact data that had been provided to send unsolicited emails to registrants that were not specifically related to the provision of their existing registered domain(s).
Given the specific protections and prohibitions contained in the Data Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations,
many of the registrants who might have received such an email could have objected that this was an inappropriate use
of their contact data and contrary to their data protection rights.

Has Nominet received legal advice about sending out an email on its new .uk proposal?,
as I believe the terms of your new proposal would not be caught by the previous legal advice,
so it would be possible to send out such an email to the owners of the 10,000,000 UK domains, as you tried to do previously.

Please can you provide me with clarification of this area?

Nominet responded 1 08 13 with :

1. The legal advice and position remains the same regarding this consultation and your question of emailing all .uk registrants. We will not send unsolicited emails that are not directly connected to the contract of registration.

My reply to them on 2nd August (to date no response despite reminders)

For exactness, regarding point number 1 are you saying you have had external legal advice specially about sending emails to all UK registrants about the new/current .uk proposal?

If you have not had such independent legal opinion about sending emails to UK registrants specifically about your new .uk proposal, I would be willing to provide one, at my cost if you would agree to send emails if it clearly stated in the opinion it was not against UK law. Please reply on this important point as in my experience these opinions take some time to obtain, also if you have a preference on legal firms to provide the opinion please provide me with the information.

I believe such an email should be sent out as a matter of principal and would act as an excellent try run, I doubt many UK email shots this large have been attempted before?

 

[Murray]

Not to be the bad guy, but the landing page looks very unprofessional

I think it would put people off taking it seriously.

Sorry

 

[Edwin]

I think there's absolutely no chance at all that "millions" of business owners will be left in the dark about this, even if the primary way they learn about it turns out to be from a different route than Nominet.

Remember, there will be a six month window, during which Nominet will be contacting registrants. I'm confident this is enough of a change to the UK web scene that it will get prominent mainstream media coverage. And during that six month window, more and more businesses will switch to using .uk, so there will be plenty of live examples of it "in the wild".

Then you have friends, family, colleagues, acquaintances, suppliers, dealers, partners, advisors, consultants, trade unions, professional networks and membership organisations, etc. - any of whom may talk about the issue (and who may well be discussing their own URL change, handing out new business cards etc.). Not to mention that anyone who's signed up with a web designer, or outsourcing their advertising/marketing, has another avenue to hear about it. There's no reason to believe the registrARS will remain silent on the issue either - every .uk sold is more money in the till for them! We live in a very, very connected society - word spreads incredibly fast when the subject is important enough.

As such, such unsubstantiated hyperbole immediately casts doubt on the credibility of the rest of the document. Which is a shame, since it's immediately obvious that you've put a huge amount of time and effort into it.

 

[Stephen]

Hypotheticallly?

.....My point was: "I find myself at odds with this statement, as there are no changes to the current registrations, you are simply introducing a new product, so surely this will actually be just a promotional email that is unsolicited?"

Nominet's response: "With regards to emailing registrants of the right of first refusal, we appreciate that some will disagree with this approach however we have taken advice and believe this is most judicious way to proceed if the proposal goes ahead."

Make of it what you will, but I sense that most registrants will infact become aware of direct.uk if it goes ahead.

What if you are right?

What if the Nominet Directors are relying on internal legal advice now but decide that as they don't want to be exposed to any negative or personal responsibility in sending out the UK's largest spam email, if they take your point.

They decide on an external legal opinion, what if that opinion; is they cannot send a separate email but can add a note to the renewal notice (pity about the 10 year gap for some), then what would happen then to the take up of .uk?

 

[Stephen]

website - no prize

Not to be the bad guy, but the landing page looks very unprofessional

I think it would put people off taking it seriously.

Sorry

No I'm sorry you are right.

Agree, I will get around to better page before it goes to non-Acorn members, who are the only ones who know about it at the moment.

 

[GreyWing]

As such, such unsubstantiated hyperbole immediately casts doubt on the credibility of the rest of the document. Which is a shame, since it's immediately obvious that you've put a huge amount of time and effort into it.

Edwin, you have to look at it from the point of view of people that don't know domains. We aren't talking here about the number of people who's mate might mention it to them and will have spoke about it to someone over that 6 months. We are talking about the number of people who will realise the significance of what is going to happen, not just be aware of it. Those two things are fundamentally different and of huge importance.

To them, no matter what the education process it's going to be like cold calling gas, electricity or the next scam. Watch the "call centre" on the BBC as they try to give away free cavity wall insulation. Watch how many times that phone gets put down on them. Now some will argue that its their own fault for not understand domains and how .uk will trump .co.uk in 4-5 years. Some will argue that they should listen to the cold call from Nominet or whoever or take the consequences.

To anyone that wants to try it, take 10 phone numbers out of the phone book and try and give .uk away for free to the business on the other end.

 

[Edwin]

Edwin, you have to look at it from the point of view of people that don't know domains. We aren't talking here about the number of people who's mate might mention it to them and will have spoke about it to someone over that 6 months. We are talking about the number of people who will realise the significance of what is going to happen, not just be aware of it. Those two things are fundamentally different and of huge importance.

To them, no matter what the education process it's going to be like cold calling gas, electricity or the next scam. Watch the "call centre" on the BBC as they try to give away free cavity wall insulation. Watch how many times that phone gets put down on them. Now some will argue that its their own fault for not understand domains and how .uk will trump .co.uk in 4-5 years. Some will argue that they should listen to the cold call from Nominet or whoever or take the consequences.

To anyone that wants to try it, take 10 phone numbers out of the phone book and try and give .uk away for free to the business on the other end.

There is no way to take what you've just said and spin it into "millions".

There are only around 3,000,000 (unique) businesses using co.uk for their business web address. The difference between that and the 9,500,000+ .co.uk on the registry lies in multiple domain ownership by a single entity.

So to have "millions" left in the dark, you'd have to assume at least 1-in-3 of all businesses remain totally oblivious for 6 months to all the news and discussion. Remember, "millions" isn't my choice of word - it's on the first page of the report!

I don't think that's credible, and that's why I said it makes the rest of the report look (needlessly) suspect.

Bear in mind, if a journalist picks up the document to see if there's a "real" story there, they're going to be a lot more critical of the data than I've just been. That's why it's so important to provide verifiable sources for any specific claims, such as estimates.

 

[Stephen]

6 months?

...Remember, there will be a six month window, during which Nominet will be contacting registrants. I'm confident this is enough of a change to the UK web scene that it will get prominent mainstream media coverage. And during that six month window, more and more businesses will switch to using .uk, so there will be plenty of live examples of it "in the wild".....

Thanks as always for your comments.

Nominet have stated only they will contact registrants before the launch not during the 6 month window, so it may be only 1 email. They will not commit to any more than that, despite being asked.

7% of all registrants are non UK based, that is nearly 1 million.

With the two .uk proposals we have seen domain names are not exactly top story material and may get lost in the other 1,000 new gTLD's coming through.

With a such a large email mailing it really could be caught in a lot of spam filters or treated as a spam or scam or go to a webmaster address who does not pass it on.

Regarding switching to .uk and so acting as an advert, I agree it will happen to some degree but due to the cost of rebranding from .co.uk and .uk I doubt if many large prominent organizations will act within the 6 months, they may own the .uk and redirect it but I doubt they will use it in adverts etc. until the rebranding is complete.

The UK registrars may take pre-orders but it will not be really available until after 6 months after the launch, so I don't think they will make effort until that date draws close.

I really don't know how many .co.uk owners will not take up .uk that are entitled to it but I believe "millions" is closer guess than just a few.

 

[GreyWing]

There is no way to take what you've just said and spin it into "millions".

I've double checked mate and couldn't see it, who said millions of people?

 

[Edwin]

With the two .uk proposals we have seen domain names are not exactly top story material and may get lost in the other 1,000 new gTLD's coming through.

Not exactly apples-to-apples as a comparison. Actually being able to BUY a .uk domain name is about 1,000x more newsworthy than an "obscure" and esoteric consultation by a small non-profit organisation (wider world view, not my personal view - I think the consultation is super-important). I think we all agree this is one of the biggest changes to hit the UK internet in the last decade, if not THE biggest.

Regarding switching to .uk and so acting as an advert, I agree it will happen to some degree but due to the cost of rebranding from .co.uk and .uk I doubt if many large prominent organizations will act within the 6 months, they may own the .uk and redirect it but I doubt they will use it in adverts etc. until the rebranding is complete.

Actually, some of the conversations I've been having suggest that the largest organisations will find it easier than small companies to rebrand, because they're constantly using up marketing materials, making new ad campaigns, etc., so it's just "another" change for them. Plus it's a great story for their press team to put out.

Contrast that to the small guy who prints a new brochure every 3 years when the dusty pile in the corner of the garage runs out, reprints business cards when he can afford it, never changes his little local newspaper ad because he can't afford the ad redesign costs (or the next door neighbour's kid who made the original ad is off at Uni) etc. etc.

The UK registrars may take pre-orders but it will not be really available until after 6 months after the launch, so I don't think they will make effort until that date draws close.

Incorrect. They will be available within 1 second of launch. The UK registrars have existing customers who ALREADY have 10,000,000 UK namespace domains registered with them, so you can bet they will let them know about the opportunity to double down (at 2x-3x the "regular" registration fee of a .co.uk). There's no way they're going to stay silent about the tidal wave of money that's set to flow their way from the launch - they'll be shouting it from the rooftops. Plus since the existing registrants are unarguably their customers, the "potential spam" issue doesn't come into the picture.

I really don't know how many .co.uk owners will not take up .uk that are entitled to it but I believe "millions" is closer guess than just a few.

You can guess whatever you like, of course. I'm just highlighting the dangers of runaway estimating when it comes to gaining/losing credibility.

 

[Edwin]

I've double checked mate and couldn't see it, who said millions of people?

From the FRONT PAGE of Stephen's report:

“Opt in scheme for equivalent .uk”
Millions of .co.uk owners will not apply for new .uk,
as they will not know about it?"

That's the first thing anyone will see after reading the title.

 

[Stephen]

best guess?

You can guess whatever you like, of course. I'm just highlighting the dangers of runaway estimating when it comes to gaining/losing credibility.

Thanks, I do believe your comments are constructive.

What would be your best educated guess, please?

 

[Edwin]

What would be your best educated guess, please?

There's no point in making a guess - not if your intent is to work it into your report.

Whether it is a thousand or a hundred thousand, they will be unaware of .uk through being "oblivious", not through any fault of Nominet. Just like some businesses miss the deadline to file their annual returns, or to update their VAT rate, or change their payroll reporting, or to do any one of hundreds of other things they should be doing to "keep up" with changes. Nominet only has to reach a similar notification standard - they cannot and should not be held to an impossibly high, miraculous 100% success rate.

The idea of .uk is flawed.

The consultation process is flawed.

However, I believe the actual launch (taking the whole 6-month period as being a "launch") will be impossible to miss (in terms of "being able to reproach Nominet for not making it prominent enough" impossible)

There are plenty of things to hang Nominet on - don't make the centrepoint of your argument an unknown, and unknowable, statistic that can have holes poked in it any which way with just a little consideration.

 

[GreyWing]

From the FRONT PAGE of Stephen's report:

That's the first thing anyone will see after reading the title.

Thought you were referring to my post earlier, no probs.

However, I believe the actual launch (taking the whole 6-month period as being a "launch") will be impossible to miss (in terms of "being able to reproach Nominet for not making it prominent enough" impossible)

There are plenty of things to hang Nominet on - don't make the centrepoint of your argument an unknown, and unknowable, statistic that can have holes poked in it any which way with just a little consideration.

There are two major things I think you are overlooking,

1) People get hundreds of sales calls each year. To know this one is different they will have to listen to it, they've already turned off in large numbers by the time you've said hello.

2) Nominet can't sell the significance of this in their ad campaigns because it opens them up to legal action later.

"Hey guys this is really really important you need to take .uk before someone else grabs it and trades on your name".

Because do you know what exhibit 1 is going to be in any court case regarding someones IP rights of those that missed out like msn.co.uk....... yep that ad campaign.

 

[Stephen]

My guess

There are only around 3,000,000 (unique) businesses using co.uk for their business web address. The difference between that and the 9,500,000+ .co.uk on the registry lies in multiple domain ownership by a single entity.

So to have "millions" left in the dark, you'd have to assume at least 1-in-3 of all businesses remain totally oblivious for 6 months to all the news and discussion. Remember, "millions" isn't my choice of word - it's on the first page of the report!

I don't think that's credible, and that's why I said it makes the rest of the report look (needlessly) suspect.

Agree I would like report to be as credible as possible.

Millions has to be 2m + that is 1 in 5 (rounded) .co.uk domains held that will not apply for a .uk that are entitled to do so under the current proposal.

With over 600,000 non UK registrants, who will not get the other exposure you mention, simply one Nominet email.

I do not think that is exaggerated based on what Nominet have said they are going to do, to bring it to the attention of registrants.

 

[Edwin]

1) People get hundreds of sales calls each year. To know this one is different they will have to listen to it, they've already turned off in large numbers by the time you've said hello.

The vast majority of domain owners who want to renew their domains manage to do so. You hear of cases where domains are "accidentally" dropped, of course, but they're very few and far between (when compared to the total number of domains on the registry).

As such, they're demonstrably already responding incredibly successfully to notifications from their registrars. There's a world of difference between a notification via that sort of channel and a cold sales call where no relationship exists.

There are so many things wrong with what Nominet is doing, let's not go chasing the one mirage in the whole issue!

As I've said, if I can poke holes in the issue, a journalist on the prowl will drive a tank through it.

Anyway, I've made this particular point enough in this thread, so I'll stop belabouring it (and cede the floor to others). Take my advice or don't, at the end of the day I don't really care enough to keep going on about it.

 

[Stephen]

Number

There's no point in making a guess - not if your intent is to work it into your report. .....

However, I believe the actual launch (taking the whole 6-month period as being a "launch") will be impossible to miss (in terms of "being able to reproach Nominet for not making it prominent enough" impossible)

There are plenty of things to hang Nominet on - don't make the centrepoint of your argument an unknown, and unknowable, statistic that can have holes poked in it any which way with just a little consideration.

It is not a trick to get a number and then said "Edwin said ??", as your number would be a guess just like mine.

"Millions" is an attention grabber and it can be justified, if Nominet state they are going to be proactive in the 6 months which currently they have not committed to, then I would revise my number downwards.

There may be more media take up the .uk story than the .uk consultation but they will only do it once, as after they have said it, then as far as they are concerned it will not be a rolling story. So the media interest in .uk will be a few days not 6 months.