the future of .uk

cav · Nov 3, 2011

I apologise if this has already been discussed, but with a potential Scottish independence referendum coming up, how will this impact on the future of the .uk extension if Scotland was to leave the UK?

It could lead over the next 10 to 20 years to the unification of the Irish counties and Wales considering its own independence. Effectively the UK would no longer exist.

Would the .uk extention be retained as it's accepted by the public?

Would ICANN create .en .sc and .wa to replace .uk?

Would we be offered the new extention equivalent in exchange for our .uk's?

Would our .uk's become worthless?

bensd · Nov 3, 2011

If that's 20 or more years away, will domains even exist as we know them today?

Edwin · Nov 3, 2011

Inertia is your friend. Millions of companies have collectively spent HUNDREDS of BILLIONS of pounds over the last 15 years "branding" their .co.uk names - they're not suddenly going to throw that away on a whim because a different extension comes along that nobody's heard of (a few articles in the media do not constitute "letting everyone know")

Blossom · Nov 3, 2011

It's all very well to say that they want independence, but the only way they could protect themselves is by close alliances with England/Europe anyway. I believe there was an article published a few months ago about how Scotland is happy to take money and services from England and a lot of stuff is funded by their UK roots that they wouldn't be able to afford alone.

It would only take Northern Ireland rejoining the rest of Ireland to destroy the UK; England, Wales and Scotland forms 'Great Britain'.

dta · Nov 3, 2011

the .uk brand is already established in peoples minds and lives so regardless of what happens, that won't be going anywhere soon in my view

brum · Nov 3, 2011

gotta agree .co.uk is here to stay .... i can see i .eng at some point but most brands will just use .co.uk as the customers are mostly the same and they have spent so much building up that brand that they will wont stop using it they will probably use .scotland and.wales as well but .co.uk will stay rather than spending lots on rebranding all the .co.uk to .eng.

GreyWing · Nov 3, 2011

Scottish independence and leaving the UK are two different things, even the scots nationalists don't want to leave the UK. They still want the queen as head of state.

So wouldn't worry too much about it, no real scottish business is going to give up access to a market of 60m people to one of 5m

linkr · Nov 9, 2011

UK domains are definitely here to stay, but in case of indepenence additional ccTLD would certainly be added.

Scotland wouldn't be the first country ever to declare independence, so you can learn from other similar cases.

Ashton · Nov 9, 2011

I think the only thing that will happen is that when business's can't get the .co.uk / .com they want, they might opt for there regional extension. As well as a few local organisations / business's opting for it.

craigj · Nov 9, 2011

Personally, I think it would depend on the business.

I could see a lot of local small businesses and tourist websites going for a local extension.

However a lot of national businesses cover England & Scotland and devolution is unlikely to affect their .co.uk brand.

Whibs · Nov 9, 2011

Correct me if i am wrong but is the UK the only country to have some many Second Level domains? Most countries have just the one and as such the power of the TLD is far stronger and the value also higher.

The introduction of more TLD's does create the hype to get the Premium domains and for companies to protect their image, how ever long term the co.uk will remain King.

Nearly 50% of sales through the Sedo platform in Q3 2011 are .com's, 21% .de and a meager 6% co.uk, yet the average price is higher for the co.uk than the .de.

There are twice as many registered .de as co.uk's, simply put the German has to have a .de or the Com,Net,org, etc, we have far too much choice yet still we have a good resale market for the co.uk. This shows that just because we have more choice does not mean that we have taken anything from the King.

co.uk will always have its place at the top, the more new options the more powerful it becomes. I also feel that if it were not for the org.uk and the me.uk our co.uk would be worth so much more than it is today.

aZooZa · Nov 9, 2011

The Wesh are debating it and already have approached ICANN. I hope they take .cymru

binny · Nov 9, 2011

Blossom said:
It's all very well to say that they want independence, but the only way they could protect themselves is by close alliances with England/Europe anyway. I believe there was an article published a few months ago about how Scotland is happy to take money and services from England and a lot of stuff is funded by their UK roots that they wouldn't be able to afford alone.

Officially known as the 'Subsidy Myth'.

binny · Nov 9, 2011

I can't see a referendum going in favour of independence. Scottish voters are not voting for the SNP in general elections in the same numbers as they are in Scottish elections. I think there is generally more support for union than independence but a desire to have a Scottish party running Holyrood. A vote in favour of independence would surprise me.

The subsidy myth is rolled out in these debates all the time but the facts don't back it up and actually state the contrary however it is used to create a fear factor "You won't manage alone!". The irony is that pursuing this argument when it is flawed will only serve to antagonise people and damage the campaign to maintain the union.

anthony · Nov 10, 2011

If either Scotland or Wales do launch their own extension(s), I believe Nominet won't be involved. Either the devolved assemblies, by virtue of upholding their devolved status, will manage matters themselves, or some other non-English government backed organisation(s) will enter the arena.

However, if Scotland and Wales get their own extension, then England will be getting one, and again I believe Nominet won't be involved in managing that either, a clear conflict.

As for whether such extensions would be 'worthy', I would say that most here would go for the feeding frenzy, despite any public statements to the contrary, they would be too tempting an opportunity for anyone to miss!

GreyWing · Nov 10, 2011

anthony said:
If either Scotland or Wales do launch their own extension(s), I believe Nominet won't be involved. Either the devolved assemblies, by virtue of upholding their devolved status, will manage matters themselves, or some other non-English government backed organisation(s) will enter the arena.

You'd imagine wrong mate, Nominet are going to be at the front of it

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/busine...or-welsh-internet-domain-name-91466-29695187/

Andrew Bennett has been trying to find out on the Nominet forum why funds that we pay to the .uk pot is going to fund this, needless to say that he hasn't been answered.

"Glenn Hayward, director of finance and business development of Nominet, said: "We do not see it in the interests of Wales for the taxpayer to fund the bid. More importantly it is for Wales to have a credible and meaningful application that is in tune with its economic potential and with its devolved status particularly after the creation of new legislative powers.

Read More http://www.walesonline.co.uk/business-in-wales/business-news/2011/11/01/business-minister-edwina-hart-insists-no-funding-will-be-given-for-welsh-internet-domain-name-91466-29695187/#ixzz1dGGYeNqu"

Not sure why Nom are getting involved in it tbh, if they make a success they will be accused of stifling competition and if it falls on it's arse they will be laughed at.

anthony · Nov 10, 2011

GreyWing said:
You'd imagine wrong mate, Nominet are going to be at the front of it

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/busine...or-welsh-internet-domain-name-91466-29695187/

Andrew Bennett has been trying to find out on the Nominet forum why funds that we pay to the .uk pot is going to fund this, needless to say that he hasn't been answered.

"Glenn Hayward, director of finance and business development of Nominet, said: "We do not see it in the interests of Wales for the taxpayer to fund the bid. More importantly it is for Wales to have a credible and meaningful application that is in tune with its economic potential and with its devolved status particularly after the creation of new legislative powers.

Read More http://www.walesonline.co.uk/business-in-wales/business-news/2011/11/01/business-minister-edwina-hart-insists-no-funding-will-be-given-for-welsh-internet-domain-name-91466-29695187/#ixzz1dGGYeNqu"

Not sure why Nom are getting involved in it tbh, if they make a success they will be accused of stifling competition and if it falls on it's arse they will be laughed at.

My bad terminology there GW, I should have said "I believe Nominet shouldn't be involved". Edwina Hart's clearly playing the 'cash strapped' card for a reason. No self respecting, independent thinking Welsh blooded person is seriously going to let her get away with selling away Welsh control of a valuable asset by making out she's minding the Welsh piggy bank, especially when that control would be linked to a company whos roots are based in Oxford.

The powers that be in Scotland will have the same attitude, there's no chance in the depths of hell that a non-Scottish organisation will get control of their extension.

sdsinc · Nov 10, 2011

Does anybody believe .cym or .sco would be as popular as .cat ?
.cat gets some use in Catalunya but at the same time doesn't seem to be a threat to .es.

craigj · Nov 10, 2011

Well... Theres a lot of talk regarding scottish and welsh domain extentions, but as yet, nobody seems to be making the proposal of a .en domain?

Maybe We should get in there and setup a new limited company and make the proposal to ICANN ourselves...

The fee is $185,000 (roughly £116,000) per application.

So the new company could have 116 shares at £1000 each, funded by us domainers?

Between us, we probably have the best knowledge & market info possible to turn a profit on it.