Nominet survey on two letter .uk domains

Nominet’s Policy Advisory Board (PAB) has stated that two-letter .uk domains should be allowed to registered, and to this effect Nominet is running a survey on two letter, one character and other short domain names. Nominet says:

The current rules for registering .uk domain names do not allow the registration of two letter domain names.

Nominet’s Policy Advisory Body (PAB) has recommended that two letter domain names should be available for registration and a PAB sub-committee agreed on the principles of how two letter domain names should be released.

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Methane-powered data center under construction in UK

As most companies look to renewable energy sources like wind and and water, data center firm Infinity is building a facility to take advantage of a much different power source: methane from cows.

The company is building a data center in East Anglia, England that will use biomaterial from local farms to generate electricity. The conversion process will also generate fertilizer as a byproduct. The firm has given the process the name “Dark Green Energy.”
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UK government gains power over registrars

While the passing of the Digital Economy Bill by Parliament last week changes quite a few things, one of more important inclusions in the legislation deals with domain registrars. Among other things, the government now has the right to regulate any “UK-related” domain registrar.

Most notably, this includes Nominet, the operator of the .uk ccTLD. In the event the government concludes it is not up to snuff, authorities now have the power to replace it with a more competent registrar.

While there is currently no need for the government to act on its new powers, I think this component of the law is a great thing for website owners the public at large. Registrars need to be held more accountable for their actions.

Photo | Flickr

SOCA calls for better WHOIS accuracy

Citing recent statistics issued by ICANN stating that 3/4 of WHOIS data is inaccurate, Britain’s Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) is calling for more rigorous accuracy requirements.

SOCA says it is too easy for organised crime to fake domain contact data and wants ICANN to make falsifying contact data more difficult. This would make it much easier to track down scammers, phishers, and other cyber criminals.

Short of verifying every domain registrant’s contact data and instituting criminal penalties for data-fakers, I really don’t see how this is going to happen. Even if more stringent efforts were taken, I’m sure criminals would find a way to bypass them. After all, don’t criminals still manage to get credit cards, passports, and drivers’ licenses all the time?

UK police shut down 1200 .co.uk domains

The Metropolitan Police’s Central e-Crime Unit (PCeU) announced today that it, in conjunction with the .uk registry, has shut down more than 1200 .co.uk domains.

The domains in question were used by organised criminal networks for scamming. Many contained fake online stores where consumers could order designer goods for low prices, but these people ended getting conned out of their money instead. The names are thought to have generated millions of pounds in revenue.

It’s great to see something being done about Internet fraud. Cyber criminals are often times very difficult to prosecute, but in this case the PCeU found a way it could take action with minimal effort.

Photo | Flickr

UK could obtain right to nationalize domain registries

The Digital Economy Bill, currently in Parliament, could have major implications on the domain industry. It contains a broad clause that, if approved, will give the government the right to nationalize any failing domain registry based in the UK.

Some domainers are crying foul over this, but in my opinion, this legislation is a good safety net for domain owners. In the event a registry fails, would you rather lose your domain investments or have the government take over the extension so you can keep them? Think about it like government-insured bank deposits.

Hopefully the bill will also force registries to operate more ethically. As politicians gain more awareness about web issues, expect them to get more involved in Internet governance.

Photo | Flickr

Report: 77% of UK residents prefer .uk over .com

A report released this week by Nominet, the operator of the .uk ccTLD, shows that Britons hold a strong liking for their .uk extension. According to the study, 77% prefer it over .com.

So far this year, .uk has grown 10.7%. Though this is the same as the average growth for all ccTLDs, it is still good news for anyone who has invested in the extension.

People like ccTLDs because they are more identifiable with their home countries, whereas .com is a generic catch-all. Interestingly, the United States hasn’t experienced the same trend as the UK with its .us extension. The vast majority of people still prefer .com. While .us is gaining ground, it still remains mostly unused.

New media advertising report is good news for domainers

A report on advertising spending conducted by the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers shows that UK advertisers have spent more money on Internet advertising so far this year than on television adverts.

In all, the web accounts for 23.5% of advertising expenditure, or £1.75 billion. Still a dominant power, TV made up 21.9% of spending.

This is important to domainers because it shows that companies and marketing firms value the Internet just as much as any other communications medium. Thus they are more likely to understand the value of a premium domain. Because of increased advertisement spending, website owners stand to make more from PPC ads.

Source | The Domains

FTC: Company Tried to Trick UK Customers

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is pursuing litigation against a California-based company called Balls of Kryptonite for allegedly using using websites on two .co.uk country domains to trick UK customers into thinking the company was local. According to the charges, the company had two domains, bestpricebrands.co.uk and bitesizedeals.co.uk, and used the websites to sell electronics such as cameras and video games.

UK customers saw no indications that the company was international and purchased goods from them. But when the items arrived, they received unexpected import charges, invalid warranties, and huge cancellation fees. Customers sent complaints to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) which in turn collaborated with the US-based FTC.

This is not the first time that foreign companies have used UK domain names to appear local. Reports estimate that there could be as many as 480,000 sites with co.uk country domains that are not based in the UK. Most of them are based in China. Customers should therefore use caution when ordering from unfamiliar companies, and if they are not sure, they can use Whois lookup to determine the location of the domain’s owner.

Source: The Independent
Photo: Flickr

UK Businessman in Heated Dispute Over .AE Domain

As if the .ae top-level domain craze could stand to get more sensational, Michael Reed, a businessman from the United Kingdom, is complaining that the UAE domain regulator, .aeDA unlawfully took back a domain he had legitimately registered. The domain in question is Irena.ae. Reed owns a 12-year-old trademark for Irena, a nutritional supplement, in Europe and the UK.

According to Reed, however, when the UAE government made a deal with IRENA, the International Renewable Energy Association, they snipped his registration from over his own registrar’s head. The regulator .aeDA argues that Reed did not register the domain until two days after the IRENA EU statute and that he posted a “for sale” advertisement on youcanbuythiswebsite.com. When they contacted him, they said he did not respond in a timely manner.

Reed contends that he never offered the domain for sale. The .aeDA asserted that its policies grant it permission to revoke registration of domains that are identical to inter-governmental organizations (IGOs), but there is no mention of it in the policy document. Reed is threatening to pull his business out of the UAE completely. Now it will be up to the UAE to decide which is more important to them: their inter-governmental agreements or the business interests and potential commercial benefits of one man.

Source: Arabian Business
Photo: Flickr