The government has confirmed its support for a review into whether offensive words should be banned from .uk domain name registrations. At the moment there are no rules restricting which words can and cannot be registered as part of a domain name.
Internet safety campaigners have raised concerns about the UK’s position as the third largest host of pornographic websites, many of which have sexually explicit website addresses. Campaigners believe that explicit websites should be forced to use the new .xxx domains to clearly demarcate the potentially offensive content.
Nominet, the body ultimately responsible for overseeing domain name registrations in the UK, has agreed to launch a review of current policies. However there are several potential issues making regulation of offensive domain names particularly difficult, not least creating a list of words that are considered globally rude or hurtful.
In the event that campaigners and regulators can agree a list, there are still secondary problems to consider. “Arsenal.co.uk” and “Essex.co.uk” could accidentally fall foul of profanity filtering rules, as could “therapist.co.uk”, despite the content being completely innocent. Without manual intervention, it may be impossible to register or renew domain names that contain offensive words.
For more information about choosing a domain name, call Broadband Cloud Solutions on 0141 585 6363.
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