Nominet UK
Encyclopedia
Nominet UK is the .uk domain name
registry
in the United Kingdom
, which was founded by Dr Willie Black and five others on 14 May 1996 when its predecessor, the 'Naming Committee' was unable to deal with the volume of registrations then being sought under the .uk domain. Nominet is a non-profit company limited by guarantee
. It has members who act as shareholder
s, but without the right to participate in the profits of the company. Anyone can become a member, but most members are internet service provider
s who are also registrars. As one of the first professional ccTLD operators, Nominet became the model for many other operators world wide.
Unlike the model for gTLDs and ccTLDs in some other countries, by and large customers wishing to register a domain do not approach Nominet directly, but register the domain via a 'registrar'. This is an organisation that is authorised by Nominet to register and update domains on behalf of customers, and that has provided a PGP
public key to enable Nominet to authenticate communications from them. Registrars were formerly known as "tagholders".
As of August 2008 the .uk register held 7,000,000 .uk domain names making it the fourth largest Top Level Domain in the world. Nominet also deals with disputes about registrations of .uk domain names, via its Dispute Resolution Service (DRS), which is similar to the UDRP system used for generic Top Level Domain Names, but with certain innovations such as a free mediation service.
Nominet, which operates the .uk domain and is soon to start operating the UK ENUM
registry, has launched a charitable foundation, the Nominet Trust. Nominet has been running up a surplus (profit) on its ordinary operations since 2003; since its constitution forbids it from distributing surplus funds to members in the manner of a commercial company paying dividends, it is now looking at charitable activities as a means of running down the money mountain.
In September 2008, Nominet's board made an initial donation of £5m to its charitable offshoot, which will support "education, research and the funding of suitable projects for the benefit of UK Internet stakeholders". Further donations have been made since this date.
as full members (the main ISPs in the UK), and their resellers as guest members. By the early 1990s, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) who registered domains for their customers were joined by a new breed of domain name specialists who had an entrepreneurial attitude to domain names. The Naming Committee operated a ruleset that forced all name registrations to 'exactly' match the name of the registering company and also limited all companies to a single domain name. Although such rules were not exceptional for the time (Network Solutions
operated a similar policy), the growth of a commercial internet soon brought these restrictions into close focus.
As demand for domain name registrations grew, it became clear that a voluntary group could no longer cope with the volume of registrations being requested. It also became clear that the existing ruleset was not sustainable and the Naming Committee was going to break down under pressure of registrations.
The options to set up as a profit-making company or a charity
were rejected, and Nominet was established on 14 May 1996 as a private, not-for-profit membership company, limited by guarantee. Whilst the move was generally popular, there was strong resistance from some parts of the industry. Although formed with a board composed of Willie Black (who became the first CEO of the new company), John Carey and the four co-founders drawn from the internet industry, elections were held by the new membership which resulted in the first elected board members to oversee the growth of the UK domain name industry.
Many pre-Nominet domain names had little or no contact information, as a result it has been hard to work out ownership of the domain names. Nominet are running an internal project (the PreNom project) to clear out the remaining pre Nominet domain names so by the end all domain names would be under the new Nominet terms and conditions.
building societies; whilst this was roundly defeated, controversy over its cash reserves remained.
Italicised entries are legacy second-level domains that refer to individual organisations. No such new domains have been permitted since the foundation of Nominet.
.uk
.uk is the Internet country code top-level domain for the United Kingdom. , it is the fourth most popular top-level domain worldwide , with over 9.5 million registrations....
registry
Domain name registry
A domain name registry is a database of all domain names registered in a top-level domain. A registry operator, also called a network information center , is the part of the Domain Name System of the Internet that keeps the database of domain names, and generates the zone files which convert...
in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, which was founded by Dr Willie Black and five others on 14 May 1996 when its predecessor, the 'Naming Committee' was unable to deal with the volume of registrations then being sought under the .uk domain. Nominet is a non-profit company limited by guarantee
Company limited by guarantee
In British and Irish company law, a private company limited by guarantee is an alternative type of corporation used primarily for non-profit organisations that require legal personality. A guarantee company does not usually have a share capital or shareholders, but instead has members who act as...
. It has members who act as shareholder
Shareholder
A shareholder or stockholder is an individual or institution that legally owns one or more shares of stock in a public or private corporation. Shareholders own the stock, but not the corporation itself ....
s, but without the right to participate in the profits of the company. Anyone can become a member, but most members are internet service provider
Internet service provider
An Internet service provider is a company that provides access to the Internet. Access ISPs directly connect customers to the Internet using copper wires, wireless or fiber-optic connections. Hosting ISPs lease server space for smaller businesses and host other people servers...
s who are also registrars. As one of the first professional ccTLD operators, Nominet became the model for many other operators world wide.
Unlike the model for gTLDs and ccTLDs in some other countries, by and large customers wishing to register a domain do not approach Nominet directly, but register the domain via a 'registrar'. This is an organisation that is authorised by Nominet to register and update domains on behalf of customers, and that has provided a PGP
Pretty Good Privacy
Pretty Good Privacy is a data encryption and decryption computer program that provides cryptographic privacy and authentication for data communication. PGP is often used for signing, encrypting and decrypting texts, E-mails, files, directories and whole disk partitions to increase the security...
public key to enable Nominet to authenticate communications from them. Registrars were formerly known as "tagholders".
As of August 2008 the .uk register held 7,000,000 .uk domain names making it the fourth largest Top Level Domain in the world. Nominet also deals with disputes about registrations of .uk domain names, via its Dispute Resolution Service (DRS), which is similar to the UDRP system used for generic Top Level Domain Names, but with certain innovations such as a free mediation service.
Nominet, which operates the .uk domain and is soon to start operating the UK ENUM
Telephone Number Mapping
Telephone number mapping is the process of unifying the telephone number system of the public switched telephone network with the Internet addressing and identification name spaces. Telephone numbers are systematically organized in the E.164 standard, while the Internet uses the Domain Name System...
registry, has launched a charitable foundation, the Nominet Trust. Nominet has been running up a surplus (profit) on its ordinary operations since 2003; since its constitution forbids it from distributing surplus funds to members in the manner of a commercial company paying dividends, it is now looking at charitable activities as a means of running down the money mountain.
In September 2008, Nominet's board made an initial donation of £5m to its charitable offshoot, which will support "education, research and the funding of suitable projects for the benefit of UK Internet stakeholders". Further donations have been made since this date.
History
Most countries have their own Top Level Domain. The .uk TLD was first used in 1985, and at that time a voluntary group called the 'Naming Committee' managed the registration of .uk domain names. This consisted of members of LINXLondon Internet Exchange
The London Internet Exchange is an Internet exchange point situated in London. It was founded in 1994 by a group of Internet service providers. LINX is a founder member of , a Europe-wide alliance of Internet Exchanges...
as full members (the main ISPs in the UK), and their resellers as guest members. By the early 1990s, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) who registered domains for their customers were joined by a new breed of domain name specialists who had an entrepreneurial attitude to domain names. The Naming Committee operated a ruleset that forced all name registrations to 'exactly' match the name of the registering company and also limited all companies to a single domain name. Although such rules were not exceptional for the time (Network Solutions
Network Solutions
Network Solutions, LLC is a technology company founded in 1979. The domain name registration business has become the most important division of the company. As of January 2009, Network Solutions managed more than 6.6 million domain names.-History:...
operated a similar policy), the growth of a commercial internet soon brought these restrictions into close focus.
As demand for domain name registrations grew, it became clear that a voluntary group could no longer cope with the volume of registrations being requested. It also became clear that the existing ruleset was not sustainable and the Naming Committee was going to break down under pressure of registrations.
Birth of Nominet
When it became clear that a new organisation with a new approach was needed to manage the .uk TLD. The Naming Committee mailing list had mutated into a discussion group for domain name issues and many discussions about what type of corporation the Registry should be were held. Meanwhile, at UKERNA, Dr Willie Black and John Carey, were watching the situation and in 1996 John Carey wrote a proposed plan for a new organisation to be called Nominet. This was distributed widely, and the first Nominet meeting was held at a hotel at Heathrow Airport on 11 April 1996.The options to set up as a profit-making company or a charity
Charitable organization
A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization . It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization (NPO). It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A...
were rejected, and Nominet was established on 14 May 1996 as a private, not-for-profit membership company, limited by guarantee. Whilst the move was generally popular, there was strong resistance from some parts of the industry. Although formed with a board composed of Willie Black (who became the first CEO of the new company), John Carey and the four co-founders drawn from the internet industry, elections were held by the new membership which resulted in the first elected board members to oversee the growth of the UK domain name industry.
Pre-Nominet domain names
Moving domains to the newly formed company registrants of existing domains were invited to agree to Nominet's new terms and conditions. There were several complaints from pre-Nominet domain owners objecting to the need to start paying for something that was previously free.Many pre-Nominet domain names had little or no contact information, as a result it has been hard to work out ownership of the domain names. Nominet are running an internal project (the PreNom project) to clear out the remaining pre Nominet domain names so by the end all domain names would be under the new Nominet terms and conditions.
Legal issues
Nominet soon realised it had to work hard to protect both the information it held and the legal position of intellectual property and brand owners.Structural issues
Nominet's success brought with it a number of structural concerns. Over time, it built considerable cash reserves. In 1999, candidates stood for the board on platform similar to 'carpet bagging' attempts with mutualMutual
Mutual may refer to:*Mutual organization, where customers derive a right to profits and votes*Mutual information, the intersection of multiple information sets*Mutual insurance, where policyholders have certain "ownership" rights in the organization...
building societies; whilst this was roundly defeated, controversy over its cash reserves remained.
Second-level domains managed by Nominet
- .co.uk
- .org.uk
- .net.uk
- .ltd.uk
- .plc.uk
- .me.uk
- .sch.uk
Second-level domains managed by other organisations
- .ac.uk
- .bl.uk and .British-library.ukBritish LibraryThe British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom, and is the world's largest library in terms of total number of items. The library is a major research library, holding over 150 million items from every country in the world, in virtually all known languages and in many formats,...
- .gov.uk
- .icnet.ukCancer Research UKCancer Research UK is a cancer research and awareness charity in the United Kingdom, formed on 4 February 2002 by the merger of The Cancer Research Campaign and the Imperial Cancer Research Fund. Its aim is to reduce the number of deaths from cancer. As the world's largest independent cancer...
- .jet.ukJoint European TorusJET, the Joint European Torus, is the largest magnetic confinement plasma physics experiment worldwide currently in operation. Its main purpose is to open the way to future nuclear fusion experimental tokamak reactors such as ITER and :DEMO....
- .mod.uk and .mil.uk
- .nhs.uk
- .nls.ukNational Library of ScotlandThe National Library of Scotland is the legal deposit library of Scotland and is one of the country's National Collections. It is based in a collection of buildings in Edinburgh city centre. The headquarters is on George IV Bridge, between the Old Town and the university quarter...
- .parliament.uk
- .police.uk
Italicised entries are legacy second-level domains that refer to individual organisations. No such new domains have been permitted since the foundation of Nominet.
See also
- .uk domain name.uk.uk is the Internet country code top-level domain for the United Kingdom. , it is the fourth most popular top-level domain worldwide , with over 9.5 million registrations....
- UDRPUniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution PolicyThe Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy is a process established by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers for the resolution of disputes regarding the registration of internet domain names...
- Apple Computer trademark dispute with Benjamin Cohen - Details of Nominet's ruling for Apple Computer in the dispute of the itunes.co.uk domain.
- Internet Provider SecurityInternet Provider SecurityInternet Provider Security tags are used by Internet Service Providers to allow control of the Domain Name System . An IPS tag is the case sensitive label that applies to each ISP and is required to transfer domain names from one ISP to another...