The hype surrounding the new generic top level domains (gTLDs) has obscured another change coming into force early next month. Nominet, the body overseeing registrations of.uk domains, is to formalise the procedures for suspending domain names suspected of being involved in criminal activities.
Under the new regulations, Nominet will be able to suspend .uk domains being used by scammers much more quickly once it has been reported to the police. Nominet will also be able to act upon complaints registered with the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP).
Another significant change will be a ban on domain names that “promote or incite serious sexual offences”. Any domain registration registration request that fails this test and does not have a legitimate reason for existence, will be denied. The domain name will then be suspended to prevent future registration attempts.
Nominet have implemented an automated checking system to flag questionable domain names, each of which will then be manually checked to verify that the domain in question is not a false positive. The registrant will be informed of the decision to ban the domain name and given 30 days to appeal the decision.
These changes to the current terms and conditions of domain registrations should help make the Internet safer for consumers and business alike. The changes should also help to make it harder for cybercriminals to operate in the UK, or to fool users with .uk domain names.
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