UK NEWS
.uk is the Internet country code
top-level domain (ccTLD) for the United Kingdom.
As of July 2008, it is the fifth most popular top-level domain worldwide
(after .com, .de, .cn and .net), with nearly 7 million registrations.
United Kingdom websites ends with .UK and
are often prefixed with
.co, .gov and .org.
For example:
Google.co.uk
is the United Kingdom version of Google.com.
Direct.gov.UK
is the UK Government website.
CareHome.org.uk
is as ource for care homes in the UK.
Facts About .UK Domain Names
Allocations
are on a strict first-come, first-served basis to qualified applicants.
There are no territorial restrictions: applicants need not have any
connection to the UK. .co.uk is by far the most used of the domains,
followed by .org.uk. .plc.uk and .ltd.uk are only rarely used.
The intended restriction of
.co.uk to companies is purely nominal; in practice it is open to any and
all applicants. Likewise, whilst .org.uk is for organisations, there are no
restrictions on registering domains. While .me.uk originally had no
restrictions on registrants it has since been tightened up to require
registrants to be natural persons (i.e. not companies, etc).
However, registrants in .ltd.uk must be, and remain, private limited
companies incorporated under the UK Companies Act 1985. In addition, names
can only be registered if they correspond (in accordance with the algorithm
in the rules of registration) with the exact company name, as recorded at
the companies registry at Companies House. The same conditions apply for .plc.uk,
but for public limited companies. Neither of these domains are widely used.
For example, Ferryhill Business and Enterprise College in County Durham has
the domain name ferryhill.durham.sch.uk. Previously applications were made
in the normal way, but after Nominet came to an arrangement with the
education authorities, one domain per school was issued automatically.
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.net.uk is more
open, but the Nominet regulations still mean that a registrant must be
an ISP, or a similar body, and that the domain is not used for providing
services to end-users. .nic.uk, however, is limited solely to domains
operated by Nominet.
.ac.uk domains are intended for the use of higher education
institutions (beyond compulsory education age), and are also used by
some academic support bodies such as the Universities and Colleges
Admissions Service (www.ucas.ac.uk), public research establishments, and
learned societies such as the Royal Society (royalsoc.ac.uk). Primary
and secondary education uses .sch.uk. Unusually, .sch.uk domains
are allocated at the fourth level, with the third level being taken up
by the name of the local authority (LA previously LEA or Local Education
Authority) e.g. schoolname.leaname.sch.uk. |
Second-level domains
.ac.uk - academic (tertiary education and research establishments) and
learned societies.
.co.uk - commercial/general
.gov.uk - government (central and local)
.ltd.uk - limited companies
.me.uk - personal
.mod.uk - Ministry of Defence and HM Forces public sites
.net.uk - ISPs and network companies
.nic.uk - network use only
.nhs.uk - National Health Service institutions
.org.uk - non-profit organisations
.plc.uk - public limited companies
.police.uk - police forces
.sch.uk - local education authorities, schools, primary and secondary
education, community education
