Right now, UK-based websites have the option of procuring a .co.uk domain name. However, there could soon be another choice. The BBC reports that Nominet, the non-profit that oversees all net addresses ending in .uk has put forth a proposal for a new service called direct.uk that would offer .uk domains with added security features.
According to the BBC, businesses seeking to acquire a .uk domain would have to prove that they have a UK presence as well as pay significantly more than the price of a regular .co.uk domain. The going rate for one of these .uk addresses would be £20 per year. This is compared to the £5 .co.uk owners pay every other year. However, Nominet says that these new, shorter domains would also benefit from added security measures.
"We would do daily malware scanning of these domain names and associated sites and they would be DNSSEC-signed [Domain Name System Security Extensions] - that's a security protocol that adds a digital signature to a domain to minimise the risk of domain-hijacking, and it also ensures that when you are going to go to a domain you reach the one you wanted to reach," Nominet's Eleanor Bradley told the BBC. "It would all be brought together with a Trust Mark so that consumers and people visiting these .uk domain names would get an immediate indication of the security and nature of the registration."
The direct.uk service would operate alongside .co.uk. Nominet has launched a three-month consultation for the propose idea. The consultation will run through until January 7. You can respond to the consultation here.
