The UK’s first single- and two-letter internet addresses are going on sale from 1 December.
Nominet, the organisation responsible for running the .uk internet infrastructure, will release 2831 ‘short’ domains — such as 1.co.uk and aa.co.uk — that until now have been held back for technical and policy reasons.
Normally .uk domains are normally registered on a “first come, first served” basis, but because Nominet is anticipating a high level of demand, registered trademark holders will have priority during a “sunrise” period that lasts from 1 December 2010 to 17 January 2011.
“During this time trade mark rights holders can apply for a domain that matches their trade mark,” Nominet explains. “As each application will be independently verified, applicants will need to provide evidence of using the trade mark in the UK prior to 1 January 2008.”
If there is more than one verified application, domains will be auctioned to the highest bidder with proceeds going to charity.
Domains not allocated will then go forward to a second sunrise period, when the rights qualification will be extended to unregistered rights holders. Any remaining domains will proceed to a “landrush” period in which anyone can participate.
“This release is an opportunity for savvy rights owners to get hold of valuable domain names,” said Nick Wenban-Smith, senior legal counsel at Nominet.
“There can be many trade marks, but only one domain name. So we’re expecting these new domains will be hotly contested by individuals, companies and major brands. Having the .uk short domain URL can enhance brand value and increase customer access to businesses and individuals via search engines and beyond.”
Four second-level. uk domains are included in the release: .co.uk and .org.uk are open to all, while net.uk is reserved for network operators and me.uk for individuals. Nominet is unusual in that it doesn’t permit any registrations of the .uk top level domain.
More information and a list of the new domain names are provided at nominet.org.uk/go/shortdomains.
