Don't get me wrong, I love my domain; but while nik.co.uk has a certain charm, it's doesn't have the international appeal of nik.net, nik.com or even nik.org, each of which was bagged by someone else years ago.

That's why the appeal of an international domain is so strong for so many; something like the rarer than rare .int, or the much-hyped, recently ratified but not yet live, .eu.

Even before it officially exists, though, .eu is causing trouble, with a raft of companies offering what they optimistically call 'pre-registration', which, in reality, doesn't exist.

The term pre-registration implies that you can register your own domain before the .eu namespace goes live. Because that would push you right to the front of the queue if it were possible, you can see why so many people are getting so excited.

Not since Neville Chamberlain stepped off a plane waving a worthless piece of paper have so many in Europe been quite so optimistic ... or quite so disappointed.

The way these companies are working the system is quite clever. They trawl the registration databases looking for people who already have a domain of their own, then they copy the domain name, chop off the end and add '.eu'.

They then paste it into a cleverly worded email that implies that for an upfront fee they can secure the .eu equivalent on your behalf. Of course they never actually say that in quite so many words, but the implication is there, and if you don't read carefully you'll fall into their trap.

The .eu domain was ratified by the European Parliament back in March 2002 at a conference in northern Spain and, although we're fast approaching the first anniversary of that date, nobody yet knows what form the registration process will take.

Following several high-profile copyright infringement suits over domains in the established .com namespace, the administrators of the recently launched .info extension initiated what they called a 'sunrise period'.

Lasting a few weeks, this was a time during which only organisations or individuals that could prove they had a valid and legal reason why they should be the only ones allowed to register a domain with their name could do so.

If the .eu registrars decide to do the same they won't care that you've paid anything between £15 and £100 for the rights to hp.eu - you simply won't get it.

And what happens if you and someone else both pre-register the same name? Assuming that nobody can claim one or other of you is not legally allowed to take it, it'll be first-come, first-served and you are relying on your chosen agent to get in there first.

Considering their automated systems will be submitting thousands upon thousands of requests within the first few hours, you may be better off plugging away with your single request again and again until either you succeed, or someone beats you to it.

The rather clumsily named www.eu-domain-names-resource.com also points to another danger: "With over 25 internet service providers going into liquidation each month they may not even be around to register your .eu domains when the registry finally opens in one to two years time."

So, what is happening to the .eu namespace at the moment? If you've been waiting to register your own domain, or already opted for 'pre-registration', you've probably noticed that things have gone ratherquiet of late.

Well, the reason for that is that the Commission is hard at work sifting through the applications to actually run the domain space.

The applicants will have a hard time meeting the various requirements of the role, which not only include drawing up a list of rules and regulations to clamp down on cybersquatting, but also to prove they have the ways and means of settling international disputes over who owns what and why.

It is a slow process. But if one good thing has come out of it, it's that it is separating the honest players from the fraudsters in the registration market. Unfortunately, there seems to be no published list of who is and who isn't playing by the rules, but it would certainly help weed out the market if there were.

Speaking to vnunet.com back in September 2002, Ken Sorrie, co-founder and director of Internetters, went even further: "It would be good if the Commission or the registry, when it is established, has the authority to put these fraudsters out of business before they blacken yet another new domain name introduction."

The official line, from the European Commission, should be the final word in any discussion of the .eu namespace. It's the body that will own it, and in theory could revoke it at any time.

In its own words: "The Commission is not proposing to act as a Registry or Registrar for the '.eu' TLD and cannot accept requests to reserve particular names under the planned system.

"Further policy and organisational decisions will be necessary and it is unlikely that the future registrars will be able to start to receive applications before the end of 2002.

"Note that the Commission has also strongly discouraged pre-registration in '.eu' pending the creation of the Registry and adoption of its registration policies." You have been warned.