.UK Announced

[Edwin]

How can something that's not happened yet (Board meeting) be leaked?

 

[websaway]

I did say speculative leaks.

It's a little like a lull before a storm.

 

[Paullas]

I did say speculative leaks.

It's a little like a lull before a storm.

Where?

 

[websaway]

Where?

on this forum

 

[scooter]

.

 

[Bailey]

A chunk of you have already all but killed the market with misguided negativity so I don't suppose it matters what they announce because it can't get much worse.

I don't think you can call it "misguided negativity" It's no different to say a Power company having a planning application to build a power-station next to your local community. And you trying to sell your home at the same time. Or just living There

The fact is the vast majority, neither care or believe the build would affect them. But, then they don't live there.

There has been lots of comments in the past about the real state of the UK as a "leading internet economy" And the fact is we are a nation of 'Shopkeepers' who neither care or are concerned what colour our shop front is or indeed, sometimes, what is even in the 'shop window'

That is apart from the online 'shopbuilders' and they are rightly cautious because they live in the shadow of that new power station.

PS NOW compensate the local community with an 'Offer' of a free-power supply for not objecting to its build and everybody and it's dog is going to want to live there (if you pardon the analogy)

.UK = power station
.CO.UK local community

 

[Bailey]

Bailey, whether the decision to release direct.uk is the correct one wasn't my point.

I was actually pointing out that people on this forum telling us how they're not going to buy another .uk domain again or that Nominet have damaged the market forever, have done so much damage to the market that whatever Nominet announce it can't get much worse.

Personally I'm opposed to the proposal without reservation because it's an idea that is in no one but Nominet's best interests.

Neither was my comment a reflection on the right's or wrongs. But what is said here on Acorn and other UK domain focused sites is more a 'local community issue' The wider UK public don't care. Sure it's effecting sales between us a group. But, if you look at end-user sales they are still at the level (and prices) that they always were at (which isn't very impressive) for all this government talk about a leading on-line nation

 

[Bailey]

End user sales have always been the icing on the cake but we also had a healthy internal market that was fed from the top and filtered down to all levels and it's that market that's been all but killed off by a small group of doom mongers.

Point taken. But, I don't think the openness in opinion and discussion is the damage. If that kind-of talk wasn't out there. We/most would read it as being a conspiracy of silence, and the internal market still frozen.

I think most that operate in the domain arena are far to Savvy to be influenced by what is (or not) said on this and other boards

The current prices that uk domains are being offerered at here on Acorn (and their likely hood of selling) says far more than voiced opinions its not the other way around

 

[Nigel]

who are the 'key stakeholders' who helped Nominet 'refine' the draft document

I'm still trying to find out who the 'key stakeholders' were who were consulted on a 'secure .uk domain name service' as long ago as August 2012.

From a Freedom of Information Act release we know that Nominet's Head of Secretariat sent an email to a Government Department on 2 August 2012 marked 'confidential' with an attachment called 'PK Consultation on a secure .uk domain name service.doc'. The email shows that discussions had already been underway with the Government department and that 'key stakeholders' were being asked for feedback to help Nominet 'refine' the draft. The last paragraph of the email says 'As a preliminary stage, I am reaching out to a small number of our key stakeholders to seek initial thoughts and feedback with a view to further refining the draft'.

http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/139377/response/344123/attach/4/FOI 121635 emails.pdf

I wrote to Eleanor Bradley, COO of nominet 3 weeks ago, asking a number of questions, including confirmation on whether any of the 'key stakeholders' who helped 'refine' this document were registrars. I chased Eleanor a week ago and have still not had a reply.

 

[GreyWing]

Awesome work Nigel,

I have also asked several times for directors to give their backing individually for the CEO on Nominet's forum..... Silence, which is strange as they were able to come out within 24 hours and rubbish that barristers report.

 

[cm1975]

End user sales have always been the icing on the cake but we also had a healthy internal market that was fed from the top and filtered down to all levels and it's that market that's been all but killed off by a small group of doom mongers.

I could be wrong, but I got the impression that the sales on here were already heading south before the .UK announcement and it has just been the final nail in the coffin (.... okay probably the last few nails in the coffin). The poor state of the economy and Google changing the way sites were ranking was already having a negative effect on prices.

I think the current situation is similar to around 2011, when you had the short domain auctions (eg. 1 & 2 character .co.uk), which took money out of the "internal market". At that time I believe a number of domainers sat on their money to ensure they had funds to bid on auctions.

Okay the general opinion is perhaps negative, but whether .co.uk domains are talked up, down or sideways, as soon as you take money out of any economy, the market shrinks, sales dry up and prices quickly follow.

For what it's worth, I think the end user market is relatively unaffected by the .UK announcement.

 

[Nigel]

The end user market is relatively 'unaffected by the .uk announcement' only because they don't know about it. I have been receiving regular enquiries on .co.uk domains but getting very few sales. As soon as you tell them about nominet's proposals most never come back. I haven't got the heart to do what nominet does i.e. tell them 'it's a great place to be'. I had a nice email back from a prospective buyer yesterday. No sale but her comments were appreciated:

"Hi Nigel,

thanks a lot for your email and for getting back to me.

I was not aware of the information that you have given me about the .uk extension, so thanks a lot for informing me.

I will take a look at the link you have sent me.

Thanks again and have a lovely afternoon."

 

[Sound]

The end user market is relatively 'unaffected by the .uk announcement' only because they don't know about it. I have been receiving regular enquiries on .co.uk domains but getting very few sales. As soon as you tell them about nominet's proposals most never come back. I haven't got the heart to do what nominet does i.e. tell them 'it's a great place to be'. I had a nice email back from a prospective buyer yesterday. No sale but her comments were appreciated:

"Hi Nigel,

thanks a lot for your email and for getting back to me.

I was not aware of the information that you have given me about the .uk extension, so thanks a lot for informing me.

I will take a look at the link you have sent me.

Thanks again and have a lovely afternoon."

Congratulations Nigel on being so honest I really hope it repays itself in the long term.

The same cannot be said for all members of this forum who bang on about the effects that .uk will have to business but don't and wont mention this when approached about domains in their portfolio.

 

[Nigel]

I think Nominet are the ones to blame for this fiasco. They bring out the .uk consultation which immediately caused damage to the .co.uk space. Then three months later they launch a marketing campaign promoting agreatplacetobe.co.uk. and the .co.uk domain space. You couldn't make it up. So if the registry are now actively marketing .co.uk I don't suppose you can blame others for also saying a .co.uk domain name is a 'great' investment. I think they could certainly point to the registry and say 'we're just following their lead'.

I just don't feel comfortable selling a domain that might be a real disappointment to the buyer if Nominet do bring out a shorter 'more secure' alternative. They could certainly feel 'short changed' a year or two down the line.

 

[websaway]

Congratulations Nigel on being so honest I really hope it repays itself in the long term.

The same cannot be said for all members of this forum who bang on about the effects that .uk will have to business but don't and wont mention this when approached about domains in their portfolio.

Depends to a large extent on what the name is. Is there a trademark before the qualifying date etc. etc. Can't get away from the fact you may be buying an investment right and the bidder might well be aware, though he probably wouldn't mention it. I think it's up to the individuals concerned how they handle it.
Can't agree with anyone saying the end user market hasn't been affected, the co.uk market has been hit from the bottom up and from the top down.

But the internet world is still expanding and the new gtld's will die a slow death over the next 10 years leaving .com king.

 

[anthony]

I do wonder what the staff at Nominet really think about what is happening to their company, I would be quite happy to know what their true feelings are, and whether they are in favour or not of the direction things are going in.

 

[websaway]

Interesting.

Picked this up from a blog and hadn't seen it raised on here and if it was I missed it.

someone could register

lloydstsbco.uk
aaispco.uk
hmrcgov.uk, etc, etc.

This could be a phishers' paradise if it goes through

 

[Edwin]

Interesting.

Picked this up from a blog and hadn't seen it raised on here and if it was I missed it.

someone could register

lloydstsbco.uk
aaispco.uk
hmrcgov.uk, etc, etc.

This could be a phishers' paradise if it goes through

Yes, for sure. The phishing issue has already been pointed out to Nominet and publicly, but usually in the context lloydstsb.co.uk vs lloydstsb.uk (high likelihood of confusion). Your examples show the problem's even wider than that!

 

[markb]

Looks like even more defensive registrations that businesses would need to register just to protect their websites, if the proposal went ahead.

 

[Nigel]

Interesting.

Picked this up from a blog and hadn't seen it raised on here and if it was I missed it.

someone could register

lloydstsbco.uk
aaispco.uk
hmrcgov.uk, etc, etc.

This could be a phishers' paradise if it goes through

Hadn't thought about that - of course these examples could cause major problems and fraud but would eventually get sorted by DRS. More worrying would be the confusion on descriptive domains again - which probably form the majority of domains regged with Nominet and they'd be hard to DRS successfully. As 'co' is simply short for company. This could affect every valuable descriptive .co.uk domain with decent traffic. More confusion - more lost traffic and emails - more damage to the .co.uk domain space.