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discuss At eleventh hour, most .uk registrants still don’t own their .uk names

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http://domainincite.com/24003-at-eleventh-hour-most-uk-registrants-still-dont-own-their-uk-names

Less than a quarter of all third-level .uk registrants have taken up the opportunity to buy their matching second-level domain, just a few months before the deadline.

According to February stats from registry Nominet, 9.76 million domains were registered under the likes of .co.uk and .org.uk, but only 2.27 million domains were registered directly under .uk, which works out at about 23%.
 
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I think that most people just see it as a money grab. There could be some interesting law cases coming out of this... mess.
 
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I suspect that there will be a drive from most registrars to auto register .uk names on behalf of registrants.

LCN emailed me a few months ago and I am now the proud owner of about 30 .uk names without having to pay or do anything. Others have done the same and Nominet will probably have given the green flag to registrars to do the same...
 
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I actually paid seperatly for all my .uk domains despite owning the .co.uk.

Something truly stinks near Denmark.
 
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It's going to be interesting. There are lots of great .UK s available and it'll be a free for all in a couple of months.

.UK reg cost isn't that high so if I were using a .co.uk I'd get my matching .UK asap as you can bet a lot of domainers are gonna pivot to this ccTLD.

It wouldn't surprise me if .UK gains some momentum and it'll probably grow big time. It's not just domainers I'd worry about, I also wouldn't like another company using my matching .uk as it'd cause confusion.
 
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.uk is dead, most are fake registrations, no demand, keep money in pockets.
 
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It's going to be interesting. There are lots of great .UK s available and it'll be a free for all in a couple of months.

.UK reg cost isn't that high so if I were using a .co.uk I'd get my matching .UK asap as you can bet a lot of domainers are gonna pivot to this ccTLD.

It wouldn't surprise me if .UK gains some momentum and it'll probably grow big time. It's not just domainers I'd worry about, I also wouldn't like another company using my matching .uk as it'd cause confusion.
Yep - there are some absolute crackers available :xf.smile:
 
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It's going to be interesting. There are lots of great .UK s available and it'll be a free for all in a couple of months.

.UK reg cost isn't that high so if I were using a .co.uk I'd get my matching .UK asap as you can bet a lot of domainers are gonna pivot to this ccTLD.

It wouldn't surprise me if .UK gains some momentum and it'll probably grow big time. It's not just domainers I'd worry about, I also wouldn't like another company using my matching .uk as it'd cause confusion.

That won't happen co.uk is programmed into people in the UK we have sold alot of co.uk domains and no one wants the .UK even if you offer it to them.
 
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What are the crackers available then examples and 99% are caught :)
They are my personal crackers :xf.wink: will see if I get them on D Day......
 
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They are my personal crackers :xf.wink: will see if I get them on D Day......

Unless your running a drop system you will have no chance mine will be fully loaded i should get a nice amount :xf.wink:
 
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That won't happen co.uk is programmed into people in the UK we have sold alot of co.uk domains and no one wants the .UK even if you offer it to them.

I guess you're right about that looking at the current market. I'm not a .co.uk expert but I can see it change in time... Slowly though :)

If I was to start a business and some great name had been taken by another business or held by a domainer I'd go for the .UK if the name is good enough.

As of now .co.uk is probably the strongest tld for third level domains along with being a strong ccTLD with global recognision. that's an achievement in itself!

Anyway, yeah interesting times lay ahead.
 
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Unless your running a drop system you will have no chance mine will be fully loaded i should get a nice amount :xf.wink:
Bring it on :xf.grin:
 
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This crazy. As pointed out. .co.uk is programmed into people. It should have been .uk at the beginning. I think only one of the two can be active at any given time. That would solve a lot of problems... while also creating more.

Are other countries going to have to go through this as well?
 
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It's an undermining mess that Nominet (The UK space regulator) is bringing about. I'm sure in a couple of years things will settle back down. It could end-up like the Japanese second level .JP which was largely ignored, but the Japanese generally frown on domain speculation from the get-go.. The UK is a different kettle-of-fish. Iv'e picked up my free .UK matching registrations and I'm sure we will see a surge in registrations on the last days before the free-for-all begins.

The biggest effect is going to be for domain speculators, with their renewal costs, in effect, now doubling.. Hence, mediocre domains are being dropped left-right-and-centre, and not attracting single £50 bids at domanlore. I've dropped a couple of decent co'uk's recently and nobody wants them.

The big holders are trying to thin down without much luck. I would personally recommend staying away from the UK space If your not following whats going-on
 
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I actually paid seperatly for all my .uk domains despite owning the .co.uk.

Something truly stinks near Denmark.

The free registrations of matching .UK only applied to those domains registered prior to the announcement, which I believe was in 2016
 
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The free registrations of matching .UK only applied to those domains registered prior to the announcement, which I believe was in 2016
So I got screwed in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016. Great!

I'm gonna wreck something now.
 
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Those early ones, No you didn't have to pay for the matching second level .UK, the free period ends this summer though for all of us.

I too renewed/and registered one domain before reading-up about claiming the free period. I doubt any registrar was going to advertise the fact while there was money to be made.

PS. I might stand corrected on the exact date/ year the matching co.uk had to be prior held, I've got a feeling it could have been as early as 2014. I didn't focus on that aspect as all of my co.uk's were held over many years
 
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I am wondering if this is an opportunity at all. Soon we will be able to catch unclaimed .uk but they are basically unwanted and worthless. Who are we going to sell them to ?

A few years ago I bought .nz domains when they were released (.co.nz holders had only 6 months to claim them !) but I don't think they are very much valuable. Even .co.nz does not command sky-high prices.

I doubt that .uk will eventually overtake the 3rd level regs as it happened in other countries. Because .co.uk is long-established and mature, and the volume of regs is too large. It would take decades maybe.

BTW .jp is a different case. .co.jp is restricted to local corporations, unlike .jp which requires only a local address. So .co.jp is more established and trusted.

Other countries also have different rules for 2nd and 3rd level domains.
In the case of .uk there was another holdback until recently, you needed a local address whereas many .co.uk registrants live outside the UK.
 
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Other countries also have different rules for 2nd and 3rd level domains.
In the case of .uk there was another holdback until recently, you needed a local address whereas many .co.uk registrants live outside the UK.

Norway, Finland, France... have been problematic.
 
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When is the final date before the free for all begins?
 
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That's very interesting!
 
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