With the Scottish referendum fast
approaching, currency, the European Union, the NHS, taxation and education have
all been discussed at great length – but what about good old domain names?
Stuart Fuller, director of commercial
operations at NetNames, the online brand
protection specialist, comments:
“Currently Scotland, as part of the
UK, has as much right to claim .UK as its top level domain as anyone in Wales,
England or Northern Ireland. However, independence would undoubtedly fuel a
conversation about what would be next for Scotland’s domain name space and
whether Scotland should have its own County Code Top Level Domain (ccTLD).
“A ccTLD is generally used, or
reserved, for a country, a sovereign state, or a dependent territory. As
Scotland is currently a nation within the UK, it doesn’t qualify for the right
to have its own domain name. Should it decide to cede from the union, it could
start the wheels in motion to have its own two digit ccTLD. However, 22 out of
the possible 26 combinations for a .S something are already in use and only
.SF, .SP, .SQ or .SW are left – .SC is already assigned to the Seychelles.
“.SCOT will soon be in the public
domain name space as an alternative. The timing of the launch of the new domain
name, with general availability due to start just a few days after the
referendum result, is no coincidence. Should Scotland vote ‘yes’ next
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