One-letter '.co.uk' domain names on the way
Registered trademarks to get first pick
By Carrie-Ann Skinner | PC Advisor | Published: 07:18, 17 March 2010
Domain names comprising just one or two letters will be made available in the UK from June, Nominet has revealed.
The move by the domain name registry, will allow URLs such as www.it.org.uk to be registered by UK companies.
Current Nominet rules prevent the use of single-character domain names, while two-character domain names must comprise a letter and a number.
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However, there are a handful of one- and two-character domain names in use in the UK, including BT which uses www.bt.co.uk. These were registered prior to 1996, when Nominet took over the handling of UK domain names.
Nominet said companies with registered trademarks will be able to apply for the one- or two-character domains that match their trademark, before the domains are opened up to the rest of the UK.
The registry's Policy Advisory Body (PAB) is starting a consultation period, which will run until June 8, allowing UK companies to comment on how the domains should be made available by filling out an online survey.
"Nominet's PAB has recommended that two-letter domain names should be available for registration," said the registry.
"These recommendations and suggestions have been reviewed internally and we consider that in general where there is no longer a technical or policy reason for a restriction in our rules, then those rules should be removed."
