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DOMAIN REGISTRATION

This is a relatively straightforward process which you could choose to do yourself.

• All .co.uk names are registered with Nominet - but you have to use a registration agent to actually apply.
• Most offer a contract of between one and ten years.
• It's usually cheaper per year to register for longer periods.
• So it's important to think carefully about the name. And even the suffix - .co.uk, .biz, .com etc.
• Everything will refer to this name - all internet links, marketing material, promotions, press releases...
• so be sure to decide on a name/title with longevity and that works for your business or cause.
• There are literally hundreds of potential registration agents, and the costs can vary quite a lot.
• It's worth paying slightly more to a reliable agent that won't go out of business - which could mean you losing access to your own name.
• You can check out if your name is available on most of the larger registration sites doing a search on the name.
• A huge number of the best ones are taken - so think originality!
• It's also worth considering buying several versions of your chosen name - yourname.co.uk and yourname.biz for instance. This avoids someone else 'stealing' your business by choosing a similar name.

The E-Spot is not an Agent - but is happy to recommend if asked; or to deal with the whole process for you for a modest time fee.

Once your domain name is registered -  your business is protected for as long as you rent that name..
When you register a domain name, you join a directory of all the domain names on the Internet.

There are many companies on-line who can register your name for between one and ten years.

Most offer a two year registration for a reasonably small fee – but check out that you can transfer that name anywhere and that the company is secure – if it goes out of business, you could lose access to your own name for a long period. Check out the Nominet site for more details.

Domain names are registered on a first come first served basis, so think of several options and try to be as relevant to your name or business as possible.

You can combine letters, words and numbers in your domain name as long as it is all lower case and the numbers are between 0 and 9.

You can use the hyphen symbol (-), but not punctuation marks, spaces or other special characters

The suffix refers to the 2 or 3 letters after the dot(.) after your domain name.

If  joebloggsservices.com and joebloggsservices.co.uk are already taken; then consider joebloggservices.biz – but beware that the other two sites may get some of your clients by mistake – and visa versa.

 Top level domain names from the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)
 

Domain names - your legal rights

Anyone setting up a website needs to secure a web address (domain name). There are currently some 80-plus companies accredited to register domain names ending in .com, .net and .org., and one company which manages the registry of names ending in .uk.

Registering a trademark prevents anyone else using it or anything likely to be confused with it. A landmark legal ruling in 1998 resulted in cyber-squatters' efforts to make money from registering distinctive, established trade names – with the possibility of selling them for the maximum price to the companies of the same name – being outlawed.

The law of copyright exists in cyberspace as it does in other media, but is harder to police. There are steps that marketers can take both to protect their property and to minimize the risk of breaking the law.

The public is afforded protection from the invasion of their privacy in the UK by the Data Protection Act, which requires companies holding databases of information to register. The EU directive on Protection of Personal Data also lays down strict common rules.
(E-Business 2003)

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