From Lesley Cowley, Chief Executive at Nominet

Welcome to our second edition of Nominet News for 2007.

In this issue we consider some of the current market issues surrounding .uk and the international domain space.

I have just returned from Lisbon, where the latest ICANN meeting took place and we have a report on the key issues discussed at that event. I also share some of my predictions for what the UK Internet industry might look like in five years’ time, as presented in my keynote speech to the UK Domain Channel Conference in February. A recent survey brings encouraging news about continued loyalty for .uk domains and we have the inside track on that story for you. More ›

The latest ICANN meeting from 26-30 March in Lisbon, Portugal was a busy and interesting one and the key discussions included the following:

• Changes to WHOIS services
• Registrar Accreditation Agreements
• Regional At-Large Organisations
• ICANN’s Operating Plan and the development of its new Strategic Plan
• .XXX top level domain application rejected
• Internationalised Domain Names

More ›

I recently revealed my thoughts about what the UK domain name market might look like in 2012, as part of my key note presentation at the UK’s Domain Channel conference on 2 February 2007.

My predictions included the following: More ›

We were encouraged by the news that British Internet users are six times more likely to choose a .uk rather than .com address when looking for information via an Internet search engine.

In an online survey of 2,324 Internet users, which was carried out for us by YouGov, we also learned that 62% believe a .uk address suggests a company is local or more relevant than a .com, and a third (32%) believe that it is important for international companies to have local domain names in order to attract local customers. More ›

On 11 June 2007 we will be releasing a major upgrade to our registrar systems. This upgrade includes:

• a significant restructuring of all the database systems that underpin our registry support services.
• new Online Services functionality.
• new automaton templates and commands.

The data restructure now provides a fully integrated view of customer data. The benefits of this new data structure are that it: More ›

We were pleased to welcome the following four candidates who have been elected to our Policy Advisory Body:

1. Andrew Bennett
2. Mark Healey
3. Jarrod Robinson
4. Michael Toth

We look forward to working with them over the next two years. More ›

Our Annual General Meeting (AGM) takes place on Wednesday 2 May 2007 at 10:00 am at the Radisson Edwardian Hotel, Manchester. Members wishing to book rooms should quote the code 0417 - NOM to receive the Nominet rate.

The election for non-executive directors will be held at the same time, and members are invited to nominate candidates. More ›

Euro domain stunted by speculators
IT Week - 9 April ‘07

Internet needs safe TLD, says F-Secure
IT Week - 30 March ‘07

British web surfers opt for .uk
PC Advisor - 13 February ‘07

Jailed scammer may have to pay back £1.2m
The Hunts Post - 28 February ‘07

Verisign wastes no time jacking up domain name prices
The Register - 6 April ‘07

Scammers target domain name owners
The Register - 28 March ‘07

Retailer sues registrars in $12m domain tasting suit
The Register - 30 March ‘07

ICANN speaks out for registrar reform
The Register - 22 March ‘07

Sheriff awards damages of £750 for single spam email
OUT-LAW.com - 5 March ‘07

Google snubs Net Neutrality debate
The Register - 20 March ‘07

Tim Berners Lee goes postal on spam
The Register - 23 March ‘07

Web 2.0 security warning for business
Silicon.com - 27 March ‘07

Kenya’s harvest of old PCs
Guardian Unlimited Technology - 22 March ‘07