Surfers shun .me.uk domains

The .me.uk internet domain, set up to give individuals a bit of personal web space, appears to have been a flop.

Dr Willie Black, managing director of Nominet, the UK's national domain registry, said that only 12,000 people have registered for the domain since its launch, compared with three million .co.uk domains.

The .me.uk domain was launched in January 2002, and Nominet claimed that it had had 1,300 registrations on the first day it became available.

It was the first second-level name added to the UK domain name space since 1996.

Black is not sure of the reason for the lack of take-up, but suggested that individuals feel more confident in using .co.uk and .org.uk domains, which he explained are stronger brands.

"People seem a little unhappy with .me.uk," he told a conference organised by the London Internet Exchange.

But Black indicated that things might pick up as more people get broadband and start managing their own servers, and hosting their own websites.

Registration fees for .me.uk started at £50 plus VAT per year to discourage cyber-squatters. They are now down to £5.

There has only been one dispute over a .me.uk domain name so far. Naqi Jawad, from east London, registered nokia.me.uk on 15 January 2002, but Nominet's dispute resolution procedure ruled in favour of Nokia.