.uk
| Top-level domain .uk | |
|---|---|
| introduction | July 24, 1985 |
| category | country-specific |
| Registry | Nominet |
| Award | unrestricted |
| number | 18.54 million (as of February 2018) |
.uk is the country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for the United Kingdom that was introduced on July 24, 1985 . It is administered by the UK registrar Nominet . With over ten million registered domains .uk is the fourth most popular top-level domain behind .com , .cn and .de .
A .uk domain can be between three and 63 characters long and only contain alphanumeric characters . Special characters according to the Punycode procedure are not supported by every domain registrar . The connection is fully automated and usually only takes a few hours.
Second level domains
Since June 10, 2014, domains can be registered directly under .uk. In addition, there are the following second-level domains, some of which are only open to special persons or organizations:
- .ac.uk - academic organizations
- .co.uk - general use (common commercial organizations)
- .gov.uk - government
- .judiciary.uk - courts
- .ltd.uk - companies with the legal form Limited company ( corporation )
- .me.uk - general use (usually personal websites)
- .mod.uk - UK Department of Defense
- .net.uk - Internet service provider and companies in the network segment (unlike .net, the registration is not generally accessible)
- .nhs.uk - state health system
- .nic.uk - .uk registrar
- .org.uk - general use (usually nonprofits)
- .parliament.uk - British Parliament
- .plc.uk - Public limited company companies
- .police.uk - British Police
- .sch.uk - schools
The most registered of the second level domains is .co.uk, followed by .org.uk and .me.uk. .Plc.uk and .ltd.uk are rarely used.
liberalization
Towards the end of 2012 there were reports that the registry would also open .uk for second-level domains. Initially, until January 2013, the public had the opportunity to submit an opinion on the plans of the registry. The shorter .uk domains should be available to companies and later also to private individuals . The domain fee should be increased from £ 2.50 to £ 20. Due to protests by registrars, the project was initially postponed and officially discontinued in the proposed form on February 27, 2013.
In June 2013 Nominet resumed the plans with a changed concept under the motto direct.uk . Since June 10th, 2014 it is possible to register domains directly under .uk. Owners of existing domains have been given preferential rights and the fee for .uk is the same as for second-level domains. Identical names that were registered under .co.uk, .org.uk or .me.uk in October 2013 will be reserved under .uk until 2019 unless they expire earlier.
restrictions
The originally intended restriction of the .co.uk domain to the allocation to companies is now only of a purely symbolic character. In practice, it is open to all applicants. The same applies to the .org.uk domain, which is intended for organizations but can be used without any restrictions on registration. It is different with the .me.uk domain, which originally had no restrictions for interested parties, but which is now more careful to ensure that it is only used by natural persons - specifically not by companies.
In the case of disputes concerning a .uk domain (regardless of the subdomain under), either the arbitration according to the guidelines of the registry or an ordinary court can be invoked. The High Court of Justice made it clear in the spring of 2012 that both paths cannot be followed in parallel, which is certainly permitted with most other country-specific top-level domains (including .de ).
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Statistics of all domain endings at DNSTrails. In: domain-right. February 1, 2018, accessed February 24, 2018 .
- ↑ Domain Delegation Data. IANA , accessed December 7, 2012 .
- ↑ International domain statistics. DENIC eG, accessed on February 2, 2017 .
- ↑ Properties of a .uk domain. united-domains. Retrieved December 7, 2012 .
- ↑ Katharina Trebes: Domains directly under .uk. In: DomainProvider.de Blog. June 12, 2014, accessed January 15, 2015 .
- ↑ Florian Hitzelberger: Registry is planning second-level domains under .uk. In: domain-right. October 12, 2012, accessed December 7, 2012 .
- ↑ Sebastian Ritze: Nominet is planning a shorter domain extension. In: united-domains blog. October 1, 2012, accessed October 2, 2012 .
- ↑ Andrew Allemann: Nominet reconsiders second level .uk domains (and it may be good for domainers) - See more at: http://domainnamewire.com/2013/06/18/nominet-reconsiders-second-level-uk-domains -and-it-may-be-good-for-domainers / # sthash.RikjMt9j.dpuf. In: domainnamewire.com. June 18, 2013, accessed June 18, 2014 .
- ↑ Florian Hitzelberger: Nominet postpones project direkt.uk. In: domain-right. March 6, 2013, accessed March 8, 2013 .
- ↑ Update on Direct.uk. Nominet, February 27, 2013, accessed March 22, 2013 .
- ↑ Lars Hoffhenke: .uk and .scot - The United Kingdom after the referendum. In: DomainProvider.de Blog. September 22, 2014, accessed January 15, 2015 .
- ↑ .uk registrations surge to a record-breaking start. Nominet, June 11, 2014, accessed June 18, 2014 .
- ↑ Are there any specific requirements for registering a .uk domain? Namecheap , accessed June 18, 2014 .
- ↑ Florian Hitzelberger: No civil litigation after arbitration. In: domain-right. April 3, 2012, accessed December 7, 2012 .