Domains
What is a domain name?
- What are the varying types of domain names?
- What are the registering rules for domain names?
- Registering a domain name
- Has my domain name been registered?
What happens after the name is registered?
Further actions that can be taken in respect of the domain name
What is a domain name?
A domain name is a text name that can be used as a convenient way of finding services, such as web pages, on the internet. It can also be used for email (e.g. fred@bloggs.co.uk). It is part of a system called Domain Name Service (DNS), which converts domain names that humans understand (e.g. www.oxlink.net) into Internet Protocol (IP) numbers that computers understand (e.g. 193.133.253.33) and vice versa.
Registering a domain name on the internet is the equivalent of registering a company name at Companies House. Once registered, no-one else can use that name. As there are many companies with similar names, it is important to register a suitable domain name for your company as soon as possible, even if you are not planning to use it for web or email right away.
As far as domain name selection is concerned, it's a good idea to register the name of your company (if not already registered by someone else) as this is likely to be more easily remembered by your clients than something obscure. In addition, a suitably appropriate domain is likely to also be 'guessable' by visitors who know your company name but not your website address.
What are the varying types of domain names?
The variety lies in the country designation of the name (e.g. .fr, .uk, .com, .de etc) and in many cases (especially with the UK domain names) the status of the owner (e.g. .co, .ltd, .plc etc). For example, the address 'yourcompany.ltd.uk' shows the the following (working from right to left):
- uk - location of the owner is assumed to be the United Kingdom
- .ltd - the name is a registered UK Ltd company name
- yourcompany - the company name
For more information on the varying types of UK domain names, see the ‘registering rules’ section below.
What are the registering rules for domain names?
Different countries have different rules. For UK domain names, the rules are dependant on the exact type of domain name sought for registration and are as follows:
Rules for .co.uk domain (commercial)
- Any person may own any number of names with the .co.uk suffix, as long as they continue paying for the administration of the name (renewal isusually required every two years)
- Names should have a minimum of three characters
- Two authoritative name servers (DNS) must be working such that a zone transfer be possible from each within 24 hours of the request reaching the SOA
- Registration is on a first come first served basis, subject to the above
Rules for .org.uk domain (non-commercial)
- Only 1 domain per organisation/body name
- The name should reflect the name of the requesting organisation
- Minimum of three characters, without human intervention
- At least 2 name servers serving the name within 24 hours of the request
- Subject to the above criteria, first come first served.
The org.uk domain is intended to be a domain for those organisations which do not satisfactorily ‘fit’ into any of the other sub-domains of .uk, such as, charities, trades unions, political parties, community groups, educational councils, professional institutions, etc.
Rules for .ac.uk domain (academic)
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An institution may acquire a .ac.uk domain name, provided it is being used to represent at least one of the following:
- A degree awarding institution
- An institution that teaches at tertiary level (including sixth-form colleges) and above (i.e. does not normally accept students below the age for compulsory education)
- An institution that conducts research, where a reasonable proportion of the results are placed in the public domain
- A learned society
- The UK further and higher education funding councils and the UK research councils
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The method of determining what name an institution may adopt shall be:
- No two character names
- One domain per trading name of the institution will be allowed
- Name requested shall reflect the legal name or trading name of the institution
- The chosen name shall minimise the risk of confusion with other similarly named institutions and avoid the risk of inadvertent masquerading
- First come first served, subject to the above
The .ac.uk domain is used by organisations providing education at tertiary level and above along with organisations historically associated with higher education such as the Research Councils.
Rules for .gov.uk domain (government bodies)
Registration is limited to:
- UK government departments
- Local government bodies
- Associated government funded organisations
The .gov.uk domain is used by all UK government departments (except Defence), local government bodies and associated government funded organisations. The usual rules about approval apply with the added exception that the SOA and/or its advisors may reject an application.
Rules for .lea.sch.uk domain (schools)
Naming Administration for schools:
Schools are registered using a third-level sub domain as there will be numerous cases of schools having the same name. The method used within England and Wales is to have the local education authority area as the sub domain name. For example:
(School name).(Local Education Authority). sch.uk
St-davids.bromley.sch.uk
Scotland is undergoing a re-organisation and, at present, a mixture of the region names and the new local authority names are being used. In Northern Ireland, it is proposed to use the names of the counties and county boroughs as sub domains.
Rule for .mod.uk domain (ministry of defence)
The .mod.uk domain is used by all Ministry of Defence establishments. Applications for names are approved by DRA Malvern acting on behalf of MOD. It should be noted that this domain has not been delegated. Name requests should be submitted to naming-gov@mhs-relay.ac.uk.
Rules for .nhs.uk domain (national health service)
The .nhs.uk domain is provided for National Health Service organisations only.
Rules for .net.uk domain
The .net.uk domain is provided as an alternative to registering in the .net domain.
This domain is intended to hold only the computers of network providers, that is the NIC and NOC computers, the administrative computers, and the network node computers. The customers of the network provider would have domain names of their own (not in the NET TLD).
The same rules will be applied to requests to register in .net.uk. This means customer email address should not appear in any .net.uk sub-domain.
Rules for .ltd.uk and .plc.uk domains (limited and public ltd companies)
- One name per company name registered at Company's House
- The name shall correspond exactly to the registered name, save for characters not in the “allowable” set (see later) which shall be interpreted as below and the “reserved” words
- White space between words shall either be ignored or replaced by a single hyphen “-” (see below for how the interpretation is made)
- All other characters shall be removed
- Company names written in a non English character set are not allowed in this version
The .ltd.uk and .plc.uk domains are intended to allow a unique mapping between company names registered under the Companies Act with Company's House and a DNS name. Although it was envisaged by the Naming Committee that only .ltd.uk was required, Nominet UK's (the UK domain name registry) legal advisors have said that a public limited company registering within .ltd.uk would be committing a criminal offence. Therefore the additional .plc.uk was created.
Note: Within these rules all references to .ltd.uk should be taken to apply equally to .plc.uk.
Note: Unlimited companies registered under the Companies Act, unincorporated bodies, partnerships and bodies incorporated under other legislation are not eligible for an entry in .ltd.uk or .plc.uk.
The only characters from a registered company name allowed in a DNS name are the letters A to Z, a to z, the numbers 0 to 9 and hyphen. These are known as the “allowable” set.
Certain words will be removed from the registered company name before the DNS name is generated, these are known as the “reserved” words. They are “limited”, “public limited company” (and the Welsh Language versions) along with the abbreviations of these words, e.g. ltd, plc, ccc. There are believed to be other “reserved” words, such as “International”.
Note: It is believed that these rules represent the way that Company's House interpret names in order to produce a unique match. In the event that they do not and/or that Company's House rules change in the future, the first successful applicant for a name will be assigned the name.
There is the possibility that applications will contain characters that are treated as significant and are not in the “allowable” set.
This version of the rules will not allow these applications to be allocated a name.
It is envisaged that applications will be made using an automated procedure. The requester of the name will be responsible for acquiring proof of incorporation. The application must state the full name of the company as registered along with the company registration number. The automated procedure shall determine the form of the DNS name and shall delegate the name as soon as possible after application and at worst within 3 working days. OXLink reserves the right to check a sample or all of the requests for accuracy (before or after delegation) and, pending resolution, may remove a registration, if the rules have been violated.
Registeringa domain name
To register a domain name through OXLink, contact us using our enquiry form.
Has my domain name been registered?
Many names have already been registered. You can use our domain name search page to check if your preferred name is still available.
What happens after the name is registered?
As soon as the domain name has been cleared by Nominet it is “delegated” to our DNS server. This is a technical procedure which transfers the name to our servers, where it can remain indefinitely. Once we have received confirmation of delegation you will receive:
- An invoice for the registration
- A certificate of registration for the name
Once the name is held on the our server you are able to use it in conjunction with other facilities we offer, such as web and email. Storage of the name is indefinite, so you can set up further facilities in your own time. OXLink would be pleased to advise you on both.
Further actions that can be taken in respect of the domain name
Re-delegation. The domain name is held on our servers but is ultimately the property of the applicant. The owner/applicant is quite at liberty to move the name from us, should they wish to.