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:

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.

 

By Michele Neylon

Michele is founder and managing director of Irish domain registrar and hosting company Blacknight. Michele has been deeply involved in domain and internet policy discussions for more than a decade. He also co-hosts the Technology.ie podcast.

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