Following on from our AGM this year, we are holding a special open meeting for .uk stakeholders to give us your opinions about the future of the UK domain name industry. At this time of significant change in the national and international Internet regulatory environment and following the recent independent review of Nominet and its role as the guardian of .uk it is important that your views are heard.

During the afternoon Sarah Montague will moderate a panel debate on the future of the UK domain name industry with an expert panel and there will be plenty of opportunity for questions from the floor.

This meeting will take place at 1:30pm at the Hilton London Kensington hotel.
Book your place now!

Why you should come to this event 

In his independent corporate governance review of Nominet, Professor Bob Garratt concludes that Nominet's membership needs to self-regulate effectively in a number of key areas, and that if that does not happen, it could result in public intervention in our affairs and external regulation being imposed.

Only the Nominet membership can resolve these issues and we believe it is in everyone's interests to do so. Government regulates industries, rather than companies therefore regulation of Nominet means regulation of the UK domain name industry as a whole. This would have serious consequences for every business in the UK Internet sector and result in fundamental changes to the ways in which we work.

The Government has not indicated exactly what form regulation would take if it felt the need to intervene. Therefore the consequences of not updating the self-regulation model are not entirely known but here are a few possible consequences:

• The costs involved in working in the industry may rise, to meet the demands of compliance and reporting;
• Fines could be imposed for registrars failing to comply with agreed standards of customer service as a result of accreditation;
• The industry could lose influence in the setting of policy that may result in other cost implications;
• There may be a more restrictive environment for companies in terms of expanding services, entering new markets, adopting and developing new technologies;
• The pace of change within the whole industry, the development of new tools and systems may slow considerably as decision-making process becomes more complex and laborious.
  

However, if we can show that we are addressing the concerns, moving forward, and demonstrating a healthy self-regulation model, then the UK domain name industry will be better placed to continue without Government intervention.

In addition to attending this meeting you will be able to give us your feedback to the recommendations from Professor Garratt and Mutuo, and your answers to the questions about the future of Nominet and its role within the UK Internet industry.  Have your say!