I see a large number of people from countries abroad buying up .co.uk domains for thier directories. Is it fair to allow this or should they be British citizens, after all, just about every other Country has rules in place to prevent 'outsiders' buying up tlcd's. Does the UK?
I wasn't aware that non UK residents could do that to be honest, i wonder why there is a difference there.
No they should not have to be British citizens IMO. There are several cases where a legitimate business or person wishes to trade from a UK domain without actually having a physical presence in the country.
Are you from the UK? Imagine if you weren't from the UK, what if you wanted a good domain name from your own Country but found a load of foriegners registered them would you be quite so accomodating? I know its just your opinion and I do respect it, just putting the scenario to you that you might think differently if it happened to you? I know most other countries have restrictions, I just went and checked a load.
That's got to be the worst analogy I've heard so far, What's it supposed to mean? Do Ferrari employ predominantly Italians to make the cars YES, it's the same with Mercedes and BMW. I never asked Should UK domain names be restricted to just the UK, I asked should the purchase of the domains be restricted to UK citizens as is the case with so many other Countries. Look at the .eu domains, you have to prove you are a citizen of the eu, .in domain names, .us, and so on, they all play by the rule of you can only buy a country domain if you are a resident, shouldn't this be the case with the UK?
I think it should be only available for UK residents. Just like it is in most countries. I wasn't aware that anyone could buy co.uk name.
Actually you can have a .us domain if you only intend to trade in the USA, even if you live in the UK, for instance. I am actually from the UK, but if I wasn't I would like a .co.uk name if I wanted to make a site about the UK, like london.co.uk ... if only I had thought of that a few years ago.
P.S. co.uk domain names are unusual in that you have to do domain transfers by post, both parties have to sign a form by hand... so if you do buy one be warned that selling it to someone else might be troublesome if you live in the Outer Antillies.
I know the French are very restrictive about the .fr extension, and it gives the domain extension a certain amount of legitimacy. You know you're dealing with an entity that has a trading address in France. Whereas countries that allow their tlds to be sold to anyone just seem to be wanting to cash in with a cheap and cheerful approach. The .co.uk domain is never going to revert to being purely for uk residents and companies, because there would be uproar amongst the foreign domain owners. It's a lot easier to make domain ownership requirements less restrictive, then it is to say to a lot of people, "you can't have this domain any more, sorry". What they may do is introduce a new .uk domain that's purely for uk businesses or residents, if there is demand. Then we will all have to shell out for yet more domains if we want to keep ownership of all the variations. I really don't think that tightening up the regulations on .co.uk would solve any problems you are having with domain availability. Quite apart from the fact that a lot of domain buyers are from the UK, I think a lot of the large-scale domain buyers could easily afford to set up offices in various countries. A lot of domains are snapped up speculatively by large networks like Marchex, and you have that to contend with as well as the millions of smaller webmasters who own maybe a handful of domains each.
So are the USA quite restrictive, maybe not to me but rule of thumb it is? http://www.namescout.com/faq/help.asp?qid=296&lang=en Not so sure on that one, Nominet do get complaints about how anyone can get .co.uk domain names with little or no legitmate interest, I wouldn't be surprised if they made a move one day. Agree to disagree on that one, I only got prompted to post this when I read on some forum, can't remember where, that people were deliberately going for .co.uk domain names as it was a good niche with at least some names left. I'm all for fair trade, so if other Countries want to be restrictive perhaps the UK should be as well, what's good for one is good for another kind of thing.
Actually, I am from the UK and have missed out on plenty a domain name. That doesn't negate the fact that there are several reasons why legit business's and individuals have a need for a UK domain.
I'm with silky, I have a client in Murcia, he is from the UK and all of his business is from the UK, I think anyone should be able to have them. Some countries are a little bit funny about it .fr's are quite difficult to get hold of and so are .ie's, there is always a way around it though, for .ie's you just have to prove that you are trading in Ireland and for .fr's you just need a French mailing address (these can be purchased for a small monthly fee).
You HAVE to be a UK citizen or have an office or something based in the UK, but cheating the system is EASY
Where do you get this from? I've been regging domain names for years now and never seen these restrictions anywhere on nominet's rules. The fact you post about it being easy to cheat the system is exactly why only LEGITIMATE business' should be allowed to register. @Silky, that was supporting your view, I'm not against legitimate interests, its the prats who use and abuse.