Nominet has been forced to rework its plans for a shorter .uk domain following a lack of support.
The the UK domain registry had planned to introduce second-level domains, allowing business to register for the shorter .uk rather than the more established co.uk.
Nominet admitted it failed to win widespread support for plans after respondents to its consultation complained that they could be forced to fight for their .uk domain, despite owning the .co.uk equivalent.
“I believe that over time the .uk domain would rightly become the default domain for the UK and it would certainly be bad for my business if I were unable to secure the .uk registration for our current .co.uk domain,” said one respondent to Nominet’s consultation.
I believe that over time the .uk domain would rightly become the default domain for the UK and it would certainly be bad for my business if I were unable to secure the .uk registration for our current .co.uk domain
Nominet said “many respondents felt that the release mechanism did not give enough weighting to existing registrants, and could lead to confusion if they could not obtain the corresponding domain”.
The scheme was also slated over price, with the new domain set to cost companies £20 per year, compared with the current £5 fee for two years.
There was support for improved security features, but many respondents suggested that the standard of security needed to be raised across the whole UK namespace, rather than .uk in particular.
Nominet will now draw up a revised proposal focusing on giving priority to companies with existing .co.uk domains, “appropriate” pricing and revised security measures.
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