Some people think that just because they let .co.uk registrants chose whether or not they want the .uk version before selling it to someone else, their approach is fair.
Sorry but in my opinion, it’s anything but fair.
Let me explain why.
If you only own one .co.uk domain or a couple, you probably don’t care all that much.
In fact, the cost of buying and keeping the .uk as well is negligible.
But what about those who own let’s say 1,000 .co.uk domains or more, for example, shouldn’t Nominet have tried to see things from their perspective as well?
In their case, not only would they have to buy 1,000 more domains, they’d also have to renew them each and every year.
I’m sorry but this is anything but fair.
What they should have done is this: let current domain holders obtain *and* keep the .uk domain as well at no additional cost.
No initial registration cost, no renewal cost.
That would have been the fair thing to do.
And from now on sure, people would be able to choose either .co.uk or .uk for their new registrations. That way, they’d make money without affecting portfolio holders.
But by making current .co.uk portfolio holders pay, they’re basically being unfair towards exactly the people who helped them the most.
They renewed thousands of .co.uk domains each and every year and instead of a “thank you for your business” card, they get the privilege of paying twice as much to renew their portfolio each and every year.
I’m sorry but this isn’t a proper way to do business, it just isn’t.
November 20th, 2013 at 1:39 pm
I see your point. I imagine .co.uk domain holders would prefer the status quo.
It will be interesting to see if .co.uk starts to disappear and just .uk takes over. Then domainer owners of .co.uk can get the .uk and drop the .co.uk…
November 20th, 2013 at 3:21 pm
In the broader business sense, nothing is ever ‘fair’. The real question is, why should businesses operating from .co.uk addresses keep the .co.uk, if they can get the .uk, presumably cheap.
The change only hurts investors that own dozens/hundreds/thousands of .co.uk domains. It also hurts CentralNIC – the leasers of uk.com name space.
November 20th, 2013 at 7:09 pm
If I owned 1000 good co.uk domains I would be very happy to have been given first dibs on the .uk versions. After regging the .uk’s I would then let most of the co.uk expire and only keep the co.uk of the very very best names. Those regging the expired co.uk’s would automatically be potential upgraders to the .uk’s I would have.
I would view the yearly renewals to date as having given me the chance to have the better .uk versions.
November 20th, 2013 at 8:03 pm
as i understand it they are holding the .uk version of the .co.uk for free for five years during which time only a co.uk holder can claim it, seems quite a fair way to do things.