A New Era with .UK Domain
Last week Britain is finally getting access to the new .uk domain through UK registry site www.Nominet.org.uk. Finally the UK has caught up with the rest of Europe and has access to a short, simple domain similar to Germany’s .de and France’s .fr etc. British icon Stephen Fry is one of the first adopters of the new domain he argues that the .co section of previous domain names has always been unnecessary. At Tyler’s Consultants we find it hard to disagree, but is it wise to make the change immediately?
Nominet say that the new .uk domain represents a new opportunity for digital pioneers, this is the domain of the future. Making the change would certainly prove you are a forward thinking, modern organisation/individual. However would you be a little too brave making the change?
Nominet’s new privacy rules
Something to consider if you are interested in changing from a domain such as .com is that Nominet’s privacy changes. People using the .uk registry may have their home addresses publicly visible through online search when they were intending to remain private. Under Nominet’s new policy “only non-trading individual” can choose to have their address details hidden. While I see it as fair for customers to have the rights to know who and where they are buying from, it is Nominet’s idea of ‘trade’ which is already building conflict.
Monetisation of your website in any form will enable Nominet to refuse hiding your privacy details. This includes pay-per-click advertising etc. Which isn’t a transaction with visitors directly, even a link to a online store such as Amazon can be reason for Nominet to label your website as a business.
Future of British web
Appealing to Nominet is possible, however the organisation will not hide your details during their investigation and with the domain only just being made available I imagine there will be many investigations possibly meaning your details will be available to everyone for some time.
While Nominet is reviewing their privacy policies it might be worth waiting until they have come to a conclusion to how they will consider certain cases and update their approach.
Despite all the issues with Nominet’s new policy changes it’s hard to argue with their .uk slogan ‘Shorter is sweeter’. I suspect their issues will be cleaned up relatively swiftly opening the doors to many large organisations who will want to make the change most likely sooner rather than later.