.uk

. uk is the country code top -level domain ( ccTLD) of the United Kingdom, which was introduced on 24 July 1985. It is administered by the UK Registrar Nominet. Uk was in March 2012., With over ten million registered domains the fourth most popular top-level domain behind. Com,. De, and. Net.

Overall a must. Uk domain be between three and 63 characters and contain only alphanumeric characters. Special characters after the Punycode procedures are not supported by any domain registrar. The 's connectivity runs completely automated and requires usually only a few hours.

Second- level domains

. Direct registration of domains under uk is according to the rules of Nominet has not allowed - except for those addresses that were created before the introduction of this rule. There are the following second- level domains, some of which are open only specific persons or organizations:

  • . ac.uk - academic organizations
  • . co.uk - general use ( usual commercial organizations )
  • . gov.uk - government
  • . judiciary.uk - dishes
  • . ltd.uk - joint stock companies
  • . me.uk - general use (usually personal web pages )
  • . mod.uk - Ministry of Defence
  • . net.uk - Internet service provider and companies in the network segment (. unlike net is not generally available to the Register)
  • . nhs.uk - national health system
  • . nic.uk -. uk registrar
  • . org.uk - general use (usually non-profit organizations)
  • Parliament.uk -. British Parliament
  • . plc.uk - Company with society form public limited company
  • . police.uk - British police
  • . sch.uk - Schools

Most of the domains registered second level is. Co.uk, followed by. Org.uk and. Me.uk. We rarely plc.uk. , And. Ltd.uk used.

As of June 10, 2014 it will be possible to register his second-level domains directly.

Liberalization

Towards the end of 2012, there were reports, the contracting authority will. Uk also open for second-level domains. First, the public had the opportunity to submit an opinion on the plans of the contracting authority until January 2013. The shorter. Uk domains should be available for companies and later also available to private individuals. Due to the ongoing protests of the registrars, the project was postponed several times, went early experts of a setting. This was officially confirmed by Nominet on 27 February 2013.

However, the contracting authority took the plans under the motto direct.uk in June 2013 again. It is now to be considered owners of existing domains to grant a preferential right for the shorter addresses. Furthermore, the cost. Uk domains in the course of changing the criteria should be lowered.

Limitations

The originally intended limitation of the. Co.uk domain on the award to companies contributes only purely symbolic today. In practice, it is open to all applicants. The same applies to the. Org.uk domain that has been conceived for organizations, but can be used without any restrictions in the registry. It is different with the me.uk domain that originally had no restrictions for those interested, in the meantime respected but more the fact that they only by natural persons -. Is used - thus expressly to undertakings.

In the case of disputes ( no matter which subdomain) affect a. Uk domain, the arbitration in accordance with the guidelines of the awarding authority, or the court be called either. The High Court of Justice made ​​clear in spring 2012 that both ways can be followed not parallel, which in most other country-specific top -level domains (including. En) is perfectly allowed.

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