.UK Announced

[websaway]

I don't support the form this EGM is taking, especially point 1). I am not in favour of the second level being opened up at all. Buying into Nominet's submission and their suggestions and accepting that it will happen is playing right into their hands. I retract my support and wish you well.

I do agree with you. The introduction of .uk is an affront to all who have registered a co.uk in good faith, and anything less than it being a direct competitor to the co.uk ( a money spinner ) will not be an attractive option for nominet.

 

[foz]

But please understand you are arguing what is in stage 2, we are at stage 1.

IMO you have things back to front, stage 1 should be no to direct.uk.

 

[arkvard]

.com.es and .co.jp are valid extensions.

What's the preferred one of choice though, the 2 letter or 4 letter extension for those countries? We didn't even get the choice of the better looking 2 letter until 2013 so seems a bit late to the party.

 

[foz]

What's the preferred one of choice though, the 2 letter or 4 letter extension for those countries? We didn't even get the choice of the better looking 2 letter until 2013 so seems a bit late to the party.

http://jprs.co.jp/en/stat/
https://www.nic.es/articles/detail.action?id=6188&request_locale=en

Thats the issue at hand. A change of heart 16 years on, but what about the legacy and the multi-millions spent on third level .uk purchases and acquisitions. Does it come down to nought and to start again because of vanity not necessity?

 

[arkvard]

http://jprs.co.jp/en/stat/
https://www.nic.es/articles/detail.action?id=6188&request_locale=en

Thats the issue at hand. A change of heart 16 years on, but what about the legacy and the multi-millions spent on third level .uk purchases and acquisitions. Does it come down to nought and to start again because of vanity not necessity?

Looks like thats what they have decided to cause mayhem.

Looking at it from another view though, what if you are a domain trader and are holding a large portfolio of the top .co.uk domain names and Nominet decide to offer all the present .co.uk holders the .uk version in sunrise for just £20, which could potentially be worth £xxxxxx?

 

[foz]

Looking at it from another view though, what if you are a domain trader and are holding a large portfolio of the top .co.uk domain names and Nominet decide to offer all the present .co.uk holders the .uk version in sunrise for just £20, which could potentially be worth £xxxxxx?

I don't think any business wants to have two competing top line .uk domains, that is .co.uk and .uk running side by side.

For a portfolio holder even at £20 this is a significant and unnecessary cost to protect their position in .co.uk.

 

[websaway]

Different entities are going to be vying for position to benefit themselves and that will cause huge splinters in any defence of the status quo.

This is a case of deceit and if nominet insisted on introducing the dot uk then the only question would be of compensation to those that have spent millions of pounds registering and developing sites around the .co.uk brand. Development and marketing is not cheap and simply to say " that's OK we will let you have your variant of the .uk " is not in the least sufficient. Nominet are the guardian of the interests of the many that have invested in the .co.uk brand and those interests cannot be guaranteed with the introduction of a direct competitor to that brand in the form of the dot uk extension.

 

[Lovekraft]

Looks like thats what they have decided to cause mayhem.

Looking at it from another view though, what if you are a domain trader and are holding a large portfolio of the top .co.uk domain names and Nominet decide to offer all the present .co.uk holders the .uk version in sunrise for just £20, which could potentially be worth £xxxxxx?

what i think could happen there also is, even if the portfolio holder secured each of their domains in the new space, an end user will now be far more likely to find a suitable alternatve of a similar quality which is what i think Nominet are wanting to allow. Second to that, it will now be more difficult to sell domains to end uers when they find out about the new space, it will be the next generation of "why would i buy that for £x,xxx when i can register the same or similar for £20".

Also i see that Nominet are proposing that the new .uk domains are put to sunrise again if they are left to expire, they really do want to put an end to the secondary market it seems.

For some this will be harder than others, time to evolve.

 

[foz]

this is a case of deceit and if nominet insisted on introducing the dot uk then the only question would be of compensation to those that have spent millions of pounds registering and developing sites around the .co.uk brand. Development and marketing is not cheap and simply to say " that's ok we will let you have your variant of the .uk " is not in the least sufficient. Nominet are the guardian of the interests of the many that have invested in the .co.uk brand and those interests cannot be guaranteed with the introduction of a direct competitor to that brand in the form of the dot uk extension.

+1

 

[ratboy]

Also i see that Nomient are proposing that the new .uk domains are put to sunrise again if they are left to expire, they really do want to put an end to the secondary market it seems.

The secondary market doesn't benefit Nominet or the consumer.

I can see their reasoning for offering .uk and in some respects I support it. But there must be some support for those invested in any form in the .co.uk space.

 

[grantw]

As posted by Andrew B somewhere else, the .nz proposal seems to suggest a much more respectful release for owners of existing extensions:

The Sunrise Period will be a designated window, where existing .nz domain name holders (registrants) can register their domain name/s at the second level if they are the only one that has that name at the third level.

If two or more domain name holders have the same name at the third level, no-one will be able to register that name at the second level unless they obtain the consent of the other third level name holders. Alternatively, if all agree, it could become a second level domain instead.

Grant

 

[foz]

As posted by Andrew B somewhere else, the .nz proposal seems to suggest a much more respectful release for owners of existing extensions:

The Sunrise Period will be a designated window, where existing .nz domain name holders (registrants) can register their domain name/s at the second level if they are the only one that has that name at the third level.

If two or more domain name holders have the same name at the third level, no-one will be able to register that name at the second level unless they obtain the consent of the other third level name holders. Alternatively, if all agree, it could become a second level domain instead.

Grant

The .nz board is reporting back next week. God I hope they don't open it up. Most of the professional responses disliked the idea.

 

[grantw]

The .nz board is reporting back next week. God I hope they don't open it up. Most of the professional responses disliked the idea.

I didn't look into it any further than that and I'm sure there's issues with that proposal also. That part caught my eye though as they seem to have put some thought into how the release will affect existing registrants and tried to come up with what looks like a much fairer solution than Nominets suggestions.

Grant

 

[foz]

I didn't look into it any further than that and I'm sure there's issues with that proposal also. That part caught my eye though as they seem to have put some thought into how the release will affect existing registrants and tried to come up with what looks like a much fairer solution than Nominets suggestions.

Grant

I agree that their idea does seem to be the fairest, however the consent process would lapse in 2 years and then would be reviewed at that point.

Their is a webcast that mentions and explains that point from Debbie the Commissioner - http://www.r2.co.nz/20120905/

 

[Matthew Yates]

The .nz board is reporting back next week. God I hope they don't open it up. Most of the professional responses disliked the idea.

Note that Jay Daley is the CEO of .NZ Registry Services. Jay was formerly Technology Director at Nominet.

 

[retired_member27]

I have read this entire thread and find it quite amusing to see most people running around like headless chickens calling for an EGM, writing to business leaders and MP's, using placards and such. Surely you most know that it won't make any difference what so ever, Nominet have already decided this is going to happen and have probably already spent a lot money on it.

I think it was always inevitable that they were going to do this, quite frankly I'm surprised it's taken them this long. Dotuk is so much better and should have been used from the very start.

Of course domainers with large portfolio's who refused to sell over the years will be the biggest losers in all this as inevitably the value of .co.uk domains will drop, and the biggest winners will be the businesses and individuals with the deepest pockets as well as Nominet themselves.

Personally myself, because of this uncertainty I have just pulled out of negotiations to buy a .co.uk domain for about £100K as well as putting on hold all business decisions relating to that domain such as hiring staff, etc. The question now is, would I be able to secure the .uk domain for that price or less when it becomes available, what I do know is that I would much rather have the .uk over the .co.uk domain.

 

[~andy]

Personally myself, because of this uncertainty I have just pulled out of negotiations to buy a .co.uk domain for about £100K as well as putting on hold all business decisions relating to that domain such as hiring staff, etc.

I don't think it's the correct time to cause this sort is disruption. Nominet shouldn't have this power to disrupt the UK economy.

.co.uk is well branded and received by the public.

.uk would be a vanity move, at a massive cost to the UK.

 

[foz]

Surely you most know that it won't make any difference what so ever, Nominet have already decided this is going to happen and have probably already spent a lot money on it.

If they have and it proceeds they will be hammered in the courts by disgruntled complainants seeking compensation. e.g. short domain names.

 

[willbon]

If they have and it proceeds they will be hammered in the courts by disgruntled complainants seeking compensation. e.g. short domain names.

Indeed... for example will American Airlines be able to reg aa.uk?

 

[arkvard]

I have read this entire thread and find it quite amusing to see most people running around like headless chickens calling for an EGM, writing to business leaders and MP's, using placards and such. Surely you most know that it won't make any difference what so ever, Nominet have already decided this is going to happen and have probably already spent a lot money on it.

I think it was always inevitable that they were going to do this, quite frankly I'm surprised it's taken them this long. Dotuk is so much better and should have been used from the very start.

Of course domainers with large portfolio's who refused to sell over the years will be the biggest losers in all this as inevitably the value of .co.uk domains will drop, and the biggest winners will be the businesses and individuals with the deepest pockets as well as Nominet themselves.

Personally myself, because of this uncertainty I have just pulled out of negotiations to buy a .co.uk domain for about £100K as well as putting on hold all business decisions relating to that domain such as hiring staff, etc. The question now is, would I be able to secure the .uk domain for that price or less when it becomes available, what I do know is that I would much rather have the .uk over the .co.uk domain.

I think you hit the nail right on the head mate, I don't think the biggest problem is going to be for the businesses, it's the domain traders.

Nominet are not stupid and yeah its a good money making opportunity for them. This has probably been in the pipeline for years with many different organisations, including possibly the UK government (I would have imagined) have been consulted on such a big shake up to the industry and the whole Uk internet industry.

With over 10 million domains registered I can not see a big % of businesses complaining as I agree with you that those with a proper online presence are going to be offered the .uk 1st, but for sure all serious domain investors will of course to protect their investment.

The question is is Nominet going to listen to domain traders just looking to hoard more domains away..well I doubt it very much..