Nominet shakes up system for expiring .uk domains, just happens to choose one that will make it £millions. Again UK internet registry operator Nominet has decided to reform the way in which expired .uk domains are released and, to no one's surprise, has decided that the best solution is one that will result in it receiving millions of pounds in profit. Last week, the organisation published [PDF] what it says is a "consultation" on the …
So there isn't any conflict of interest between being the auctioneer of expired domain names and running the dispute process?
Given the types of mischief that a previously-active domain can be used for, the non-profit solution would be to lock expired domains until such time as a new customer could make a good case for using an old name AND pass some sort of effective diligence. That would of course exclude 95% of the average registry's customer base.
the rest should go to the people who made the domain name valuable: the previous owner.
Surely it has little to no value or they'd never be dropping it, would have kept it or transferred it for a wad of dosh.
That the potential purchaser can see value in it doesn't mean the previous owner created that value.
Surely it has little to no value or they'd never be dropping it, would have kept it or transferred it for a wad of dosh.
I can think of a couple of good enough reasons why a domain name, especially one used by a small business, might have expired, especially if it reads more like a personal, rather than a business name:
'In order to provide the exact time and date an expired domain name will be become available for registration we will need to introduce a time period of certainty where the domain cannot be renewed by its previous registrant and has not yet been deleted and made available for registration by a new registrant (i.e. a Pending Delete period). We would consider a Pending Delete period of around five days.'
Brilliant, so if you forget to renew your domain you'll be blocked from purchasing it to make sure the squatters have a chance to bid for it.
"Brilliant, so if you forget to renew your domain you'll be blocked from purchasing it to make sure the squatters have a chance to bid for it."
Well, not quite...
Once you’ve gone over your expiry date, you’ll still have time to renew your domain before it gets cancelled, so there’s no need to panic. But if we don’t receive a renewal request within 30 days of the expiry date, we’ll suspend the domain name. This means all services that use that domain name, such as your website and email, will stop working. We’ll send you a suspension warning seven days before this happens, and will also send you a suspension notice when it takes place, unless your registrar has opted you out of receiving these. It’s still possible to renew your domain during this time. When your domain has been suspended for 60 days without being renewed, we’ll schedule it for cancellation. We’ll send you one final reminder to renew your domain 83 days after the expiry date. As this is just seven days before your domain is scheduled for cancellation, you’ll have to act quickly if you wish to renew it at this last stage.
The flaw with the system of notifying registrants is that it relies solely on email although nominet hold postal and phone contacts. A client of mine lost a valuable domain name because she'd changed her email address and hadn't updated Nominet. It was a secondary name held to protect a trademarked product name not the primary one used for her web site so the period for which it was not functioning went unnoticed.
I've picked up some expired domains in the past, including a 4 letter one that matches my name.
I looked up some domains, saw that the company that had registered one of the names on my check list had ceased trading, so looked to see when it was going to expire.
I put the date in my electronic diary, and then ordered it from my usual hosting provider. Obviously the speculators weren't interested in it, but it was useful for me.
How will this change things?
As I read it you won't be able to order it through your usual supplier,you'll have to bid at the auction. The auction will be advertised and there's more likelihood of somebody noticing it. The Harry Potter first edition that the local charity shop marks at £1-50 on its bookshelf would make much more if they put it into auction.
The way .uk domains are sold to third parties is not the real problem. That is trade mark infringement. A domain name that replicates a trade mark should not be saleable by any means to anyone except the trade mark holder. And that should not apply solely to registered trade marks, but should also apply to unregistered trade marks that have become established by use. The new TLD will in most cases not differentiate sufficiently to eliminate the public confusion wrt a trade mark, so any such conflicting domain names should be available exclusively to the trade mark holder. Sorry about the loss of revenue, but for Nominet to aid and abet trade mark infringement can only bring it further into disrepute, and ultimately might land it in the dock if right were right. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to be when there are bucks to grab.
Don't forget that there are many holders for the same or similar trademarks (I just took a look at "Jameson" -- there are 24 pages of holders of that or similar marks, including law firms, confectionery manufacturers, and many others as well as the famous Whiskey manufacturer). And, of course, anyone not using it for commerce is entitled to use it any way they want. As well as nominative uses like "ihatejameson.com" and "ihatejamesonwhiskey.com"
Trademarks don't prevent people using a word - they only stop people using it to misrepresent themselves. And given the fact that domain names are not aligned to any one industry, trademark use should be a tiny factor in domain name dispute resolution.
The High Court has confirmed that a registrant may be liable for passing off by merely registering a domain name including a third party trade mark, regardless of the registrant's future plans for use of the domain name. Check out the "One in a Million" case. You could also see what happens if you try registering a name that includes the words "Easy" or "Virgin" I expect the dodgy owners of some well known related names will be in touch.
Names regged including words like "easy" or "virgin" will clearly be likely to be contentious, with or without content, but in their own right either of these words would amount to excellent acquisitions, TM's or not. From then on it's about what content you use, holding page with For Sale sign, no worries.
Nominet is an infrastructure provider (similar to OpenReach) and should keep its registry business completely separate and transparent, regulated by OfCom.
Ideally it should be turned into a non-profit too.
They are a monopoly, they shouldn't be allowed to profit from from something that is essential to modern life
Having switched many sites to a simple .uk I'm now dropping the .co.uk versions ... and I'm getting daily emails from the registrars AND Nominet about needing to renew them ... this con sounds like another reason to HAVE to continue paying them even if the .co.uk domain IS our registered trade mark?
When I last looked most "household names" companies own both .co.uk and .uk but don't use the .uk, not even to forward to .co.uk
I agree with that approach, .co.uk had been common standard for over 25 years, the general public is familiar with it and there's a risk that they will view .uk with suspicion.
If Nominet had any notion of ethics they would not permit anyone other than the owner of a .co.uk name to buy the corresponding .uk However that would prevent Nominet from further feathering their nest with dual registration fees and "dispute resolution" fees, far better to allow a scammer to register a similar name to that of a legitimate organisation and then profit from the ensuing dispute.
Government intervention is long overdue.
I run DropCatcher.co.uk which was the first commercial service for catching .UK domains and has been running for the past 18 years. We have helped many thousands of clients catch their domain of interest. The current process would be fair if Nominet applied the anti-collusion rules properly but they have been allowing people to sign up for multiple accounts in order to game the system. Some would say they have deliberately done this in order to necessitate a change in the process that just coincidentally enriches them and/or the top 5 registrars who sit on the board.
No-one in the industry believes Nominet will take note of the majority of member who submit a response to the consultation and I'm sure they have already decided that an auction model is the way to transfer any remaining iota of revenue out of the small member hands to themselves. My business will be destroyed and Nominet won't give it a second thought.
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