Familiar UK email and web address endings such as .co.uk for companies and .org.uk for non-profit bodies could soon be joined by others including .union.uk for trade unions, .per.uk for personal names and even .football.uk for football clubs.
Nominet, the co-operative industry body which oversees the UK domain name system on behalf of internet service providers, has convened a policy board to review its naming rules created three years ago. Proposals were drawn up this week to be circulated to Nominet members for approval over the summer.
Every computer attached to the internet has a globally unique internet protocol address, a series of numbers separated by dots. The domain name system was invented so people could use words as user-friendly aliases for their IP addresses. The system is co-ordinated internationally by a body called ICANN and a series of other registries beneath it.
There are currently 11 basic "second-level" domains beneath the .uk "top-level" domain. They are .co.uk; .org.uk; .net.uk; .ltd.uk and .plc.uk for limited companies and plcs registered with Companies House; .ac.uk for academic institutions; .gov.uk for government bodies; .police .uk for police forces; .nhs.uk for health service bodies; .mod.uk for defence bodies; and .sch.uk for schools.
A few institutions also have their own second level domain including .parliament.uk. Parliament fought against being in the .gov.uk domain for constitutional reasons: it is distinct from government. (Buckingham Palace was not so proud. Royal.gov. uk was allowed.) The British Library has .bl.uk.
Nominet has received several approaches to create new second level domains, including .union.uk, .football.uk and .fire.uk for fire services. The main problem it faces is that of domain name piracy or cybersquatting. Cybersquatting is the shady practice whereby someone registers a company or organisation name, brand or trademark before the rightful owner (registration is on a first come, first-served basis) then demands payment to release the name. With each new second-level domain created, every company name or trademark is once again up for grabs even if a dispute has been settled across existing domains.
Nominet handles around 20 disputes over domain registrations per month, which it tries to solve through its own adjudication system and independent mediation. If this fails court action can result. Nominet managing director Willie Black acknowledges the number of disputes is likely to rise with each new domain, and says the way to minimise trouble is by creating domains representing only groups with clear-cut interests. "Each domain should represent a specialist community of interest, which would make it more difficult for cybersquatters to register," he says.
Some in the international business community oppose the creation of any new domain name spaces without even more stringent curbs. The World Intellectual Property Organisation is pressing for a tighter system in which a list of "famous names", including company names, would be ring-fenced to stop anyone other than their owner registering them as part of any internet domain name.
However, Dr Black says such a system would not be practical, and Nominet will not be supporting it. Meanwhile Nominet's French counterpart AFNIC has announced the creation of two new second level domains: for any French registrant and .nom.fr for personal names.
The personal domain name idea (being considered by Nominet as .per.uk and by ICANN internationally as .per) would allow the Dupont family, for example, to register dupont.nom.fr for customised email or web addresses. Families sharing the same name will register variants such as Dupont-1 or Dupont-Avignon if they lived in Avignon.
AFNIC says the personal domain will help pave the way for the development of home automation, by enabling people to contact their appliances when they were away from home by emailing oven@dupont. nom.fr and asking it to start cooking the dinner, or heating@ dupont.nom.fr and asking it to turn itself down on an unexpectedly sunny day.
Jean-Yves Babboneau, director of AFNIC, also hopes the move will provide a badly-needed boost to individual home use of the internet in a country where the huge past success of the national computer information system Minitel, in its day a world leader but not compatible with the net, has made people slow to switch.
