In the largest procedural shake-up since its inception in
1996, Nominet UK has announced that the registration of .uk domain
names will need to be positively renewed every two years or they
will be removed from the register database.The new system comes into effect on Thursday
(1 August), and will run in parallel with the existing procedure
until the beginning of November, when the full switchover will take
place.
At present, Nominet assumes that all .uk
domain name registrations will be renewed. As a result, even if
the registration agent does not pay the renewal fee, Nominet makes
substantial efforts to contact the domain name holder to check that
they do not wish to renew the registration before it is
cancelled.
Under the new system, if a domain name is not
renewed by the due date, Nominet will make one final attempt to
contact the registrant. If the renewal fee is not paid within 30
days, the domain name will be suspended for 60 days before it is
cancelled.
"These moves are designed to release .uk
domain names that are no longer wanted as quickly as possible,"
said Lesley Cowley, managing director of Nominet UK.
"At the same time, the 60-day suspension
period - during which the domain name remains in the register but
does not function - will serve as an additional reminder to
registrants to renew the name and therefore help to prevent the
inappropriate cancellation of domain names.”
As part of the change, Nominet will be
allowing renewals to be requested up to six months ahead of the due
date.
There will also be an option of automatic
renewal, whereby the domain name will be renewed every two years
and the fee included on the next invoice sent to the registration
agent, with neither the registrant or their agent needing to take
further action.