Own a .EU domain in the UK? Brexit just delivered even more bad news
If you’re one of the 317,000 owners of an .eu domain name who’s registered in the UK then you should prepare for the worst after Brexit.
The European Commission has announced that all registered UK owners of these domains will no longer be able to renew their registrations and may even see their existing registrations revoked after Brexit. New registrations from the UK will also not be accepted reports The Register.
The news means that if you’re currently the British owner of such a domain, you should be prepared to lose control unless a suitable transitional arrangement is made between the UK and EU after the two part ways in 2019.
Bemusingly, the company that’s actually in control of these domains, EURid, claims it wasn’t consulted prior to the European Commission making its announcement. It learned about the plans the same way as the general public.
Prepare for a cliff-edge
The Register notes that this announcement seems to contravene previously used processes about how old domain names are retired. Old Soviet Union (.su) domains are still in use today, despite the country ostensibly being migrated onto the replacement Russian (.ru) subdomain.
Obviously, .eu domains are different because the EU will continue to exist post-Brexit, but some kind of transitional process would still be helpful as companies work to avoid their online identities from being confused.
With the internet being as international as it is, it’s unlikely that this will be the last issue caused by Britain’s departure from the European Union in just under a year’s time.
Do you own a .EU domain? Let us know @TrustedReviews
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
