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Welcome to the .uk - Unless You’re Not in the UK

The .uk launch today has been getting quite a bit of press coverage. Getting a big name celebrity like Stephen Fry to endorse the shorter namespace is also a nice win for Nominet.

As part of the PR around the launch they’ve also put out a big welcome sign near Heathrow airport (see embedded video below).

And they did register the domain and put up a minisite too.

It’a a bit ironic though as .uk isn’t exactly welcoming to non-UK individuals or companies.

While co.uk is “open” to anyone anywhere, the new .uk extension requires a UK address “for service” to be provided. So if you don’t have a UK address you’re not welcome.

Getting a UK address isn’t an issue for a big business, but it’s an obstacle for smaller companies.

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By Michele Neylon, MD of Blacknight Solutions

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Comments

How is that ironic? Seems perfectly logical Jeremy Malcolm  –  Jun 10, 2014 6:59 PM

How is that ironic? Seems perfectly logical to me (and corresponds to the policy in other country registries).

JeremyMost EU based ccTLDs do not impose Michele Neylon  –  Jun 10, 2014 7:06 PM

Jeremy Most EU based ccTLDs do not impose restrictions of this nature on domain name registrants. There are a few exceptions such as .de and .nl. But in the case of .nl, for example, the registry will provide the Netherlands address if it's required. Michele

It's kind of sad John Levine  –  Jun 11, 2014 9:34 PM

that domain names have gotten so devalued that anyone would think it strange that .uk have a rule that the domain be used more or less for its intended purpose.

It doesn’t seem to have crippled .us too badly.

Didn't .co.uk have a nexus requirement earlier Samit Madan  –  Jun 12, 2014 8:48 PM

Didn’t .co.uk have a nexus requirement earlier too?
Nexus didn’t really help .us though it does work(?) for .de / .fr / .nl
ccTLDs with substantial local populations / interest are going to out perform the expectations.

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