.UK Announced

[alex]

There is unfortunately a chicken-and-egg situation by virtue of the way this information has been disseminated. The video only scratches the surface of the issue - every page of the (long) survey has much more detail, some of which is VERY important.

For example, it touches on the process of Sunrise i.e. who should get first crack at .uk domains (may not be to peoples liking!) and also whether certain domains (e.g. place names, generics) should be blocked from being registered under .uk (ditto).

But without going through the whole survey you won't be able to access this wealth of secondary background material.

So it's worth setting aside the time to do this "right" - read everything, make use of the "save" function if you can't complete the survey in a single sitting, but make sure you've had the chance to respond based on the REAL information that Nominet has supplied (albeit via this awkward survey mechanism) not based on what you assume may/may not be true based on logical reasoning. Because when you see some of the suggestions, logic's clearly not had a look in...

Thanks Edwin, I hadn't realised there was more information presented throughout the survey. They haven't made things easy, almost like they've already made their mind up!

I'll get reading through. With the issues of sunrise/distribution/cost etc aside, I want to know what exactly it is that they are offering that makes them any different to the other .uk domains, but I'm sure that will become more apparent as I read through.

 

[tifosi]

According to the bbc it's on it's way, though as a registrar I've jad no notification of any consultation on name.uk!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-19767014

 

[ratboy]

Why do I get the feeling this is already going ahead.

What a dumpy weekend for those in affiliate/google/domains. boo.

 

[tifosi]

Started a thread for it in the Nominet section.. There's a link to the new shiny Nominet website as well.

http://www.acorndomains.co.uk/nominet-general-information/108607-name-uk.html

Disappointed Nominet didn't see fit to actually tell their registrars first!

 

[foz]

The vibe I picked up from .nz responses is not to proceed in opening up the second level. http://dnc.org.nz/second_level_proposal_c1

 

[murph]

why do i get the feeling this is already going ahead.

What a dumpy weekend for those in affiliate/google/domains. Boo.

+1

 

[Lovekraft]

Why do I get the feeling this is already going ahead.

What a dumpy weekend for those in affiliate/google/domains. boo.

Judging by the new rebranded website it is evident they have already made their minds up.

 

[retired_member32]

I hope there is a Petition against this money making exercise ? its not as though there isnt already a choice already out there ?

 

[Bailey]

I hope there is a Petition against this money making exercise ? its not as though there isnt already a choice already out there ?

Choice is in fact the problem - From The way Nominet see it.

10 million UK domain registrations for a coverage of what 75 million people. hmm

You only need to see the current growth trends (which Nominet have kindly provided on their New web -site) to see the points they are trying to make. and indeed where and why they are heading in another direction.

 

[tifosi]

Can we either move this thread to the right section or use the one I've created in the Nominet section. The general forum ain't the right place for something of this importance.

 

[ratboy]

The other problem is legacy.

Nominet have perhaps a million names that are no longer used, have invalid contact information and are being renewed. This is for a myriad of reasons, but causes Nominet a real headache and stops them being used.

Many of the above are pre-Nom which they will struggle to deal with.

How many times have you found a lovely generic .co.uk only for it to be registered to what appears to be an old contact or weird name.

The new system looks like its being designed to start afresh, thats why it's so worrying. Looks like they have already spent times and money on designing and implementing it.

 

[foz]

Choice is in fact the problem - From The way Nominet see it.

10 million UK domain registrations for a coverage of what 75 million people. hmm

You only need to see the current growth trends (which Nominet have kindly provided on their New web -site) to see the points they are trying to make. and indeed where and why they are heading in another direction.

Opening up the second level actually diminishes choice, as potentially no more sub domains can be created. If supply was an issue they could just generate more sub domains for "choices".

 

[domainseller200]

The bottom line is simple - money for Nominet. It isn't about choice. It isn't about fairness. It is about money.

If it wasn't about money, the fairest way to do it would be to have two phases.

1. A set time period to let the TM holders apply for the names
2. Once the TM time period was over, they all go to general release at the proposed £20

Yes they may argue that this isn't fair, as speculators *could* register lots of names and hold them for inflated prices, but the way in which they are proposing to do it (ie if more than one person applies it goes to an auction) means it is all about who has the deepest pockets regardless of 'fairness' - the only difference is, the money ends up in Nominets pockets and not speculators.

 

[Bailey]

Opening up the second level actually diminishes choice, as potentially no more sub domains can be created. If supply was an issue they could just generate more sub domains for "choices".

Nominet are looking to solve more than one "Perceived" problem with this proposal. imo.

I guess it depends how you view the legacy of the systems that were put in place in the first instance - and how they are currently being used

 

[Edwin]

The fairest is to let the .co.uk name holders have the first opportunity at .uk. At least, that's what I think and what I wrote.

Here's the logic:
1) .co.uk has been marketed as the extension for business/commerce since pretty much the very beginning AND it has been up until now the only such extension promoted for that purpose (and therefore the "default choice")
2) Due to 1), the vast majority of for profit enterprises have registered and used .co.uk domains (though this has changed a bit in recent years with .org.uk etc. due to unavailability, it's still a drop in the ocean compared to the overwhelming commercial use of .co.uk)
3) Due to 1) and 2), the collective amount of money poured into branding ".co.uk" by businesses established on a ".co.uk" domain must run into the hundreds of billions of pounds since .co.uk's inception. This includes:
- Online marketing/advertising
- Other "overt" types of marketing, e.g. TV, radio, media ads (which Nominet's own surveys have demonstrated contain a URL the vast majority of the time)
- All other "passive" displays of the URL which also act to brand it (e.g. the name in email addresses, on business cards, on brochures, on letterheads, on invoices etc.) - collectively this might even add up to more than all the other categories above since URLs are everywhere.

It is because of that almost unimaginably large amount of collective expenditure that .co.uk has such a strong, trusted presence (again, Nominet's own surveys have been at great pains to demonstrate the latter).

But if TM holders go first, that means that generic domain holders who don't have TMs (because the domains are GENERIC) lose out to Johnny come latelies. For instance, there are live trademarks on "Amazon" that predate Amazon (the bookseller) but it's almost unconscionable to imagine handing over "amazon.uk" (a domain that will get millions of visitors a month 100% down to Amazon the bookseller's fame and branding efforts) to one of those TM holders.

Yet that is what Nominet is proposing.

It is incredibly important to remember that there was/is NO CHOICE: if you're in business and take your business seriously, it's .co.uk all the way for UK businesses - Nominet has been drumming that message home as loudly as possible. So every single domain name that gets registered and used is contributing to branding ".co.uk" on Nominet's behalf and inflating the value of that extension. Yet Nominet proposes to (potentially) dismantle a lot of that overnight!

Of course the above reads as self-serving, but that doesn't take away for one second the fact that it's ALSO true!

 

[Lovekraft]

I wonder if they were already planning this when they launched the remaining 2 letter domains last year? Knowing that individuals / companies / investors would be willing to spent decent amount's to purcahse them (which they did) for various reasons. It's a bit like they knew this was coming so decided they would punt them while they could.

Then announcing this so soon afterwards is a real kick in the teeth and just a little sneaky of them.

 

[ratboy]

...and typo issues for business emails. That's a massive potential problem.

 

[Marcoose]

Why is it that whenever I start making some small moves in an industry, the industry goes completely tits up? God you don't want me to be a rich man do you?!! So now we've got all these GTLDs to deal with, a potential new and improved .UK domain and to top it all off, EMDs count for nothing. What a great time to be a domainer!

 

[Bailey]

Edwin.

I agree this is going to be a massive can of worms. The new gtld launch (with it's cost restrictions) is going to look like childs play in terms of getting this one right

 

[Edwin]

Edwin.

I agree this is going to be a massive can of worms. The new gtld launch (with it's cost restrictions) is going to look like childs play in terms of getting this one right

Yes, agree 100%. I expect there will be thousands of lawsuits launched against Nominet unless they grandfather .co.uk owners, since many of the companies operating on .co.uk have the budgets (and/or in-house legal teams) to do so.

On the other side of the fence, the public facing registrars will love it. Imagine selling registrations at £20/year (or wherever it ends up) to millions of businesses who almost HAVE to have the names - like shooting fish in a bucket... So if it ends in a vote then that contingent will win.