Nominet announces development of a domain investigation lock that enables .uk registrars to suspend domains suspected of criminal activity pending investigation

20/01/2010

Nominet, the national registry for .uk domain names, today announces the development of a new service designed to help domain registrars respond quickly to reports of .uk domain names involved in criminal activity. This service locks domain names by suspending the operation of the name, which  means that any web site or email associated with the domain name will no longer be available. Promptly taking the domain name out of circulation in this way helps protect the consumer as quickly as possible.

Available to .uk registrars today, the new service will enable registrars, such as ISPs and Web Hosting companies, to 'lock' or suspend a .uk domain name if they have received credible reports that it is involved in illegal activity.

Eleanor Bradley, Directors of Operations at Nominet, comments: "Nominet is committed to making the Internet a safe place for all users. This lock is one of several new services we are offering to help our registrars respond to evidence that .uk domain names are being used for illegal activities. For example,  there have been cases recently where consumers are being duped into buying goods from illegitimate web sites. This tool enables the registrar to lock down the domain name to prevent further criminal activity and minimise the impact on UK consumers."

Notes to Editors

About Nominet

Nominet operates at the heart of e-commerce in the UK, running one of the world’s largest Internet registries and managing over seven million domain names. Nominet maintains the register of .uk domain names and runs the DNS infrastructure that keeps .uk working.

It runs the technology that locates a computer in the Internet hosting the web site or email system you’re looking for when you type in a web address or send an email to an address that ends in .uk.

Nominet is a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee that has members not shareholders, pays no dividends and its charges only cover its running costs. Anyone with an interest in the Internet may become a member. Nominet has over 2,800 members representing all areas of the Internet industry.

Nominet also runs the Tier 1 registry for UK ENUM, a service that combines telephone numbers and the Domain Name System to simplify the way telephone calls over the Internet work.  ENUM lets callers know that you have the capability to receive VoIP calls, so allowing them to take advantage of free calls over the Internet.

For Further Information please contact:
Gemma Griffiths/ Elissa Fry / Alex Bishop at Racepoint UK

Tel: 020 8752 3205 / 2272 / 3204
Email: nominetuk@racepointgroup.co.uk

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