Nominet’s .UK Consultation and why Brand Owners should engage with it

Nominet, the operator of .CO.UK and .UK, has initiated a consultation on .UK which runs until 16 December 2019. The consultation focusses on how to reduce phishing and fraud on .UK and what enforcement measures can be taken to mitigate this threat. The consultation will also look at the process of re-registration of expired domains.

Nominet aims to actively engage with a wide variety of UK stakeholders to ensure that .UK policies reflect emerging threats and new industry practices. This ensures that .UK provides a platform for innovation and remains a competitive and trusted space preferred by businesses and consumers.

We recommend that brand owners, particularly those based in the UK, engage with this consultation as it is important that .UK policies reflect the latest threats to brand owners, and this is a good chance to shape effective and timely enforcement. The consultation seeks input on three important issues:

• Reducing the use of .UK domain names for phishing attacks

The proposals offer a chance to strengthen the measures that can be taken against domains which have a high risk of being used for phishing.

• Implementing law enforcement landing pages following suspensions for criminal activity

The consultation proposes that informational landing pages are provided in the case of domains that have been suspended for criminal purposes.

• Implementing a .UK drop list to provide a transparent and orderly process for the reregistration of expired

The final proposal is for feedback on the potential publication of drop lists, which may have an impact on brand owners, as it changes the nature of the secondary market for domains for .UK names.

There are also a number of open questions regarding actions that the registry could take in these security areas, which provides a good opportunity to lay some potential foundations for further policy work for the .UK namespace.

Nominet invites stakeholders to send written responses by 16th December 2019 visit www.nominet.uk/policy