insight 

Yesterday at our annual .uk registrar conference we launched the Domain Business, our new site which takes the place of our annual Domain Name Industry Report. It brings you all the latest domain name statistics and trends.

The report shows that .uk registrations grew by 10.5% over the past 12 months, bringing the total number of domains to 9.7 million by the end of September 2011. .uk also maintains its position as the world’s second largest country code registry after Germany’s .de.

Preference for .uk remains strong with 81% of those surveyed saying they prefer .uk sites when presented with a choice of a .uk or .com in search results. The main reasons given were that it would be more likely to be a UK based company and have more relevance with prices in sterling and acceptable delivery charges.

The report also shows that the global market for domain names is healthy and growing with an increase of 9.5% this year, taking the total number of domains globally to 218 million, an increase of 19 million. Generic Top Level Domains now make up 60% of the market while 39% are country code Top Level Domains.

The response to the new site has largely been positive. We’ve had a couple of calls for hard copy versions, but most agree that online is the way for us to go. We hope you enjoy the new look - let us know what you think.

Last week London & Partners announced that they’re looking at securing a .london domain, taking advantage of a recent change in the rules that will transform what comes ‘after the dot’ forever.

At its last meeting, ICANN - the international body responsible for looking after the internet domain name infrastructure (.com, .co.uk and the like) decided that a number of generic top level domains (or gTLDs) could be created.

Although the new domains won’t be in use until the end of next year at the earliest – the starting gun has been fired.  By the time the world’s attention is trained on Stratford and the Olympic park,  interested parties will already have submitted their bids for their ‘.whatever’.

At first glance, this could be seen as yet another attempt by the industry to inject more hype into the much-hyped internet; to offer choice that no-one wants.
But that’s to ignore some compelling and persuasive arguments in favour of new domains not just for commercial brands, but for communities that tap into the personality, identity and character of large, global and iconic cities such as London.

One group has spent the past five years lobbying for ICANN to approve the creation of .nyc (for New York), keen to establish that city’s credentials as a digital powerhouse fit for the 21st century. The London authorities are now looking at what a ‘.london’ would deliver for the capital’s businesses and residents.

Can you imagine the likes of Rome, Sydney, Tokyo and New York all having their own domains and not London? It’s as unthinkable as not having a global ‘hub’ airport on our doorstep, not bidding for events like the world cup or the Olympics, or deciding we don’t want iconic landmarks like the Eye, Gherkin or the Shard.

These things matter, as does the creation of a trusted .london domain. Not just to Londoners, but to businesses who count London as their home and to people who visit our capital city, do business there  and form an impression about what London represents.

From  a marketing perspective, being able to brand your business or organisation .london will mark you out as distinct particularly if you conduct a lot of business overseas and want to tap into the wider associations that .london engenders. Fashion houses, creative agencies, media organisations and parts of the service sector all stand to benefit from enhancing their positioning by aligning with the London brand.  Add to that the potential for Public Services to be delivered via .london websites then you can really create enduring Brand Equity.

Equally for smaller, local businesses, whose trade is conducted exclusively in the capital, being able to proclaim themselves as a .london company will help them connect with their customers and distinguish themselves from larger, national businesses.

So, davetheplumber.london is a clearer proposition than davetheplumber.co.uk… if you’re the Dave based in the capital and ply your trade there. And it’s easier for Dave’s clients and prospective clients too.

Commercial businesses and other organisations that call London home will not hesitate in seizing on the opportunities presented by the creation of a new domain that helps them stand out from the .crowd.

In more ways than one, 2012 promises to be a memorable and fantastic year for our capital city.

‘Internet governance’ means different things to different people, and indeed the term has evolved over time.  In the early days of the internet, the job was to establish the basic rules of the road to allow the internet to function effectively: just making sure everything worked together and behaved itself was often a challenge! We needed common standards, a robust addressing scheme, and of course the Domain Name System. Almost all internet policy was made by pioneers to whom we who owe so much and ‘internet governance version 1’ was about debate largely conducted within and between technical experts.  Legend has it, back in 1996, when the founders of Nominet went to brief the Department of Trade & Industry about the creation of the .uk registry, there was very little interest in domain name or even internet issues - back then, policy was industry-led, which allowed some far-reaching decisions to be taken and implemented fairly rapidly.

As the internet grew in economic and social importance, there was pressure within the UK for policy processes to be more open and transparent and for all stakeholders to be able to take part.  Just as the web has grown from a largely static network to a collaborative space; so too the governance of the internet has adapted to allow many more voices input.

Hence, the development of the ‘multi-stakeholder model’ – what I’m calling ‘internet governance version 2’, which is where we are today.    Version 2 built upon the early and very effective collaborative ethos of the internet pioneers, but sought to involve and develop consensus amongst a much broader constituency of stakeholders.   It is, I feel, a very successful model, operating effectively through ICANN and the IGF at a global level, and Nominet’s own policy development processes in the UK – although there is room for improvement in these processes as well.

My belief is that we now need an ‘internet governance version 3’ and in the same way that the migration from version 1 to 2 built on the key success factors already in place, I favour an evolutionary rather than revolutionary approach.

But what is driving the need for change?

Well, as the importance of the internet to economies and social fabrics increases, calls are coming from governments. At the e-G8 earlier this year, President Sarkozy called for change, warning the industry:

“The universe that you represent is not a parallel universe, which is free of rules of law or ethics - or of any of the fundamental principles that must govern and do govern the social lives of our democratic states.”

This comment provoked much criticism, but what many missed was that Sarkozy was expressing a view held by many governments.  In effect, they now expect to be able to shape and influence responses to the harmful aspects of the internet.

So some governments are trying to reach out and control through an inter-governmental model for internet governance. Here, decisions would be taken by bureaucrats according to the traditional rules of diplomacy.   Other countries do not hold that view, they see the benefits of the collaborative multi-stakeholder model. At the same time though, they believe that governmental voices should be heard more clearly, and given more weight, in the future shaping of the internet.

In this climate, it is inevitable that there will be very close scrutiny of current internet governance systems to ensure they are ‘fit for purpose’, but we should be alert that this debate could play into the hands of those who would prefer a more authoritarian model of supervision.

I believe that, rather than build different structures for debating internet governance, a more effective remedy to the issues would be to firstly build greater international co-operation on enforcement – that is a dialogue for governments & law enforcement, which can run in parallel with the industry suggesting practical and proportionate ways for the industry to assist in the detection and deterrence of harmful behaviour and cyber-crime.

So rather than a radical re-think, the starting point for internet governance version 3 should be to engage in that discussion, and one about how best we can evolve and build upon the existing success of the multi-stakeholder model to develop more robust, inclusive, accountable and transparent internet governance. We should recognise the current strengths of the model, be prepared to change the less effective aspects and perhaps throw out a few sacred cows as we go.

The related issue of whether we have the right legislative framework in place in the UK to underpin our work could come back onto the agenda in future, perhaps as part of a new Communications Bill.   We recognise that public and political concern about the harms that may take place via the internet are not going to go away.  We stand ready to explore all realistic options for future co-operation in relation to issues such as harmful content and intellectual property theft.

We have, however, sought to inject one note of caution into the legislative review process, in the UK and beyond.   In our view, extending licence-based regulation to internet companies carries a considerable risk of over-regulation and mission-creep, and could harm economic growth – the starting point for the review.  As McKinsey and others have pointed out, the internet is already making a massive contribution to the UK economy.  One thing that could jeopardise that would be ill-thought out over-regulation of a sector which has thrived so far under conditions of light touch supervision.

In conclusion, it is clear that the debate about internet governance has come a long way since those early days back in the 1990s. The centrality of the internet to our lives and livelihoods makes it inevitable that the debate will continue, and the pressures for good answers to how the internet can operate in the public interest will not diminish.

Nominet stands ready to play our part in that discussion, both on the global stage and right here in the UK, to develop and refine ‘internet governance version 3’.

On Tuesday, ISC publicly announced that their nameserver software - BIND - has a vulnerability that allows a remote attacker to disable a nameserver by sending a specific type of DNS query. Along with this announcement, it released a patch that allows DNS operators to fix this vulnerability easily . Those that have been following this story may have seen that Roy Arends here at Nominet was credited with finding and assisting in the fix of the vulnerability. I want to explain the significance of this and Nominet’s role in this process.

At Nominet we have always looked at the Domain Name System differently: we’re not content with simply monitoring DNS activity and recording usage statistics, but try and dig deeper into the underlying patterns that are hidden away inside our day to day use of the Domain Name System. We handle over 2 billion DNS queries a day through .UK nameservers and within all of that data, it’s possible to see some really interesting behaviours emerging.

It is through this process that Roy and the team at Nominet’s research lab started to find unusual responses being sent from our nameservers. These responses raised the interest of the team and caused them to investigate what might be causing them. We’re lucky to have some of the best brains in the DNS world here in Oxford and their insight led them to see that manipulating the queries causing this behaviour could actually create the more damaging effect of causing a nameserver to stop responding altogether.

Once we had discovered the vulnerability, we immediately informed ISC and on Tuesday it released a patch for anyone to apply to their BIND installation to protect against potential exploits. This has been another great example of the internet community working together, across different countries to provide a solution to a problem that affects all of us.

Organisations that need to take action to patch their systems include those that run domain name servers, enterprise businesses, ISPs, domain name registrars and other Internet registries - a rough estimate would set the number at approximately 10,000 organisations in the UK.

ISC has already contacted everyone it is able to via its own networks and this public communiqué is the latest in its phased communications programme designed to ensure that everyone involved has the information needed to patch their systems. By the time you read this post, most of the domain community will have been through the relatively straightforward process of patching the affected domain servers and the vulnerability will be addressed.

At Nominet we see this ongoing work to better understand the DNS and ensure that .uk and the global internet remains safe and secure a vital component of what we do. The success of .uk depends upon the reliability of the DNS and the underlying infrastructure and software that makes this happen. We continue to fund exciting research such as this that takes a different approach to a familiar problem. Sometimes this research leads us to interesting findings local to us, but sometimes we are able to find something that truly affects everyone and leads to a safer and more resilient Internet for all.

In Singapore today ICANN made the much-anticipated announcement that it was opening up applications for new top level domains early in 2012.

This news is important as it opens up opportunities for organisations around the world to create their own digital space online: a home for brands, communities and businesses.  There’ll be scope for innovation as communities consider how and where new domain spaces could help draw people and businesses together in new and helpful ways. 

Many large organisations and businesses may choose to apply for the management their own brand name as a Top Level Domain to create their own central online presence – for instance how about .nike or .google?   Smaller businesses may opt for a different approach, registering their domain within one or more of the community or category type domains that are being mooted, such as .music, or .hotel. 

It’s taken several years to get this decision through as there are a number of different considerations for this rollout, amongst them ensuring the security, integrity and rigour of the process and the Internet in the future. A controlled approach is vital to the success of extending the gTLD programme.

ICANN is now embarking on a long outreach programme to ensure as wide a community as possible is aware of this programme and judging by the amount being written about it, things are well on their way.  The commentary, naturally, poses lots of questions and draws lots of opinion of the announcement, both negative and positive.

What’s worth remembering in amongst all the noise surrounding the change announced today, is the importance of a good naming strategy: choosing the right domain name for your business, making sure you have one part of your business with responsibility for all your names, making sure you have a record of your renewal dates and staying up to date with your renewals, etc.

Despite today’s approval of the application process, it will be some time before we see new gTLDs available for consumers and businesses. The application window for respondents to address the 360 pages of requirements opens 12 January 2012 until 12 April 2012, and the first extensions are not expected to become reality until late 2012. The requirements are extensive and organisations seeking to establish a new Top Level Domain will need to establish their technical, operational and financial capabilities.

So, the liberalisation of domain names could change the way we search for information online, and provide a greater choice for where and how each individual gets to the destination they want. New Top Level Domains may also provide brands and communities with greater options for their online identity management.  Of course, the ultimate impact of today’s announcement will only tell in time, however, it’s clear that this shake up will have long-lasting impacts for the online world.

Every year, we celebrate and recognise the achievements of individuals and organisations whose work has helped make the internet a safer, more inclusive and enjoyable space at the Nominet Internet Awards. It’s always an inspirational event, and really does serve as a reminder of just how positive an impact the internet can have on modern society. The ceremony last year (which you can see more about here) rewarded a really broad range of initiatives with true social impact – with winners including projects to help implement new IT techniques in schools, prevent cyber bullying, provide internet access in care homes and improve communication with foreign language hospital patients. By highlighting projects like this, and all the other short-listed entries, we really hope that together with the rest of the internet industry we can learn from each other and help build a better internet for everyone.

The closing date for this year’s awards is fast approaching (28th April) – so if you know of any internet projects, however small, that you think deserve recognition, please get them to submit an entry form here. The five categories are as follows:
·         Building a networked nation
·         Making the internet safer
·         Opening the world of knowledge
·         Empowering young people & citizens
·         Nurturing powerful local partnerships

I hope to see many more exciting and inspirational internet initiatives at the Internet Awards this year – to keep up to date on the nominees and the eventual winners, be sure to check http://www.nominet.org.uk/about/internetawards/.

I had the recent pleasure of meeting the Queen and briefly discussing the internet and domain names.  I was at Windsor Castle, where I was honoured to receive an OBE for services to the internet and e-commerce.

A few people have asked me whether I knew in advance about the honour. I have to say that I had no idea that I had been nominated and it was a real shock to receive the official letter about the nomination back in November last year. I then had to keep it top secret, until the official list was published at the start of 2011.

Other people have asked about what ‘OBE’ stands for. It is a part of the UK honours system that means an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. The Order was founded in 1917 by King George V, to recognise people who have provided loyal service to the community on a local or national level and anyone can be nominated for membership of the Order.

As I have said elsewhere, I was surprised and delighted to receive this honour. It is recognition of the hard work and commitment of all of the Nominet staff, and (almost) everyone who has been involved with Nominet.  We all have played our part in making Nominet and the UK internet the trusted and positive experience it is today.

Early in 2011, I received my invitation to the Investiture at Windsor Castle, where I was to be presented with the OBE medal. It stated that the dress code was ‘day dress’ and that ‘hats for ladies are advised’ and as I don’t usually do dresses or hats, there ensued a big hunt and numerous shopping trips trying to find something suitable!

The big day duly arrived. At the recipients briefing, I was humbled by the company of other recipients - such as the lady who once worked at Bletchley Park on code-breaking and then went on to raise thousands of pounds for local charities and the social care manager who spent his entire career improving living conditions for the disabled in his county.

My chat with the Queen was brief, as these things are! But I was pleased to note her surprise when I informed her that there are in fact over 9 million .uk domains.

It was a very special day for me and my family, who have been so supportive of me over the years. I should also like to thank all those who have played their part in making the Nominet and UK internet story such a great one – you know who you all are.  This really is recognition for all of you.

Yesterday, the Number Resource Organisation (NRO) announced that they had handed out their last remaining blocks of IPv4 addresses to the Regional Internet Registries (RIRs). These RIRs – RIPE, AFNIC, APNIC, ARIN and LACNIC now have the unenviable task of carefully distributing this last remaining tranche of IPv4 addresses to folk looking to connect more websites, services and machines to the internet. Once these addresses have been depleted, the only option is to move to handing out new IPv6 addresses, which are of a slightly different format and length.

We are already seeing a raft of commentary exclaiming that the internet will grind to a halt, or that this is yet another ‘Y2K’ style problem, but the truth is far from that and in many ways more interesting.

The announcement stated that the remaining seven ’/8’ blocks have now been handed out (that’s 7 x 16.8 million IP addresses to you and me…). These addresses now join a regional pool of addresses available to those who wish to apply for them. On top of this, some organisations still have a large number of allocated, but unused IP addresses that they were given many years ago. They may (in some cases reluctantly…) give up these addresses to help bolster the regional pools. What is clear however is that this remaining pool is very limited and in no way can account for the predicted growth in internet services over the next few years.

So what does this mean for all of us and in particular for British businesses? Firstly, if you are an ordinary internet user, don’t panic. Your ISP is almost certainly working on a plan to phase in IPv6 services and your existing services will continue to work as normal. Most of the large ISPs have test programs underway and will be starting to talk to their customers over the next 18 months. Think of this a little like the digital TV switchover.

If you are a business, you need to start thinking about how your business may grow and in what way. If you see your business being more connected to the internet in the future, you should start looking at plans to ensure you are ready to work with IPv6 services as well as IPv4. This may mean testing your software and hardware to check compatibility and planning an upgrade/replacement program into your budgeting process. As with most things, planning up front can save you time and expense later, so it’s better to start planning now.

Above all, this announcement serves as a clarion call that the internet continues to evolve and grow in exciting and dynamic ways. The introduction of trillions of new IP addresses will create opportunities and services that we can only dream of right now, continuing to transform the way we interact together electronically. For all of us, being part of this revolution is an exciting future that we should enthusiastically embrace.

It’s the time of year when we are all gearing up for Christmas and making our final preparations for celebrating the festive season.

At Nominet we’re celebrating another significant milestone – passing the 9 million mark for .uk domain names in the register. It is a fitting way to end what has been another significant and successful year for the .uk registry.

We have seen 11.5% annual growth in .uk in 2010, which is very encouraging in the context of the global economic climate. We anticipate closing the year with a total of 2 million new domain name registrations within the past twelve months for the first time in our history. Indeed, March 2010 saw us hit 200,000 new registrations for the first time in 10 years.

Our recently published Domain Name Industry Report for 2010 includes a number of other encouraging statistics. We were pleased to see .uk regain our position as the world’s second largest country code Top Level Domain registry after .de. and closer to home, our research revealed that 80% of consumers in the UK prefer to use a .uk website over a .com website, an increase of 3% on last year.

We also carried out some research into how domain names are used in media advertising for the first time for this year’s report. It was interesting to discover that 65% of UK print and TV advertising now includes domain names, and encouraging to note that 55% of these used a .uk address rather than a .com or other alternative.

It is also traditional towards the end of the year to indulge in a little future-gazing and attempt to predict what the following twelve months may bring. I always enjoy doing that for the domain name industry as so many factors can have an influence on the market, both globally and in the UK and you can never be sure of where the next ‘game changer’ is going to come from.

From what we have seen over the past couple of years, it is safe to assume that if the global economic climate shows signs of recovery we can expect a further upturn in growth in the domain names market.

I think it is also safe to assume that next year will see increasing political pressures on Internet governance. For the UK, this will mean that the industry will need to come up with innovative solutions to issues, if self regulation is to continue. Internationally, there are many of us committed to multi-stakeholder participation in Internet policy development. However, not everyone shares this approach, particularly in the context of the Internet Governance Forum and we will need to become much more familiar with how United Nations processes work and who our permanent representatives are. In addition, there is an urgent need to establish a better understanding and appreciation of the benefits of non-governmental stakeholder involvement in these processes.

If I had to pick a single game changer for next year it would be the introduction of new generic Top Level Domains in 2011. If, as expected, the application process for the new gTLDs is launched next year, it will have far-reaching consequences for our industry and for Internet users in general. If the process or its outcomes are problematic, there will be more calls for inter-governmental control of the Internet. If successful, then there should be some new and innovative Domains competing with .com and .uk and greater user choice in years to come.

I would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a happy and successful 2011.

Last night we celebrated 25 years of .uk with a reception at the beautiful Somerset House in London.  It was a good opportunity to reflect on how far the UK internet has come over the last 25 years and take stock of where the industry is heading.

During the evening we heard about two of our initiatives that are making appositive difference to UK internet users: our new educational web site Knowthenet and Nominet Trust, the charitable foundation we established to innovative and effective internet based projects to make a positive difference to people, primarily in the areas of education, online safety and inclusion.

It was great to see so many old friends there: our members, registrars, partners and some former board members.

I hope that everyone who came had a great night and look forward to the next 25 years!