The operator of the site promoting the names has hit back,
arguing that it is open about what customers are buying when they
register a .sc name, although no mention of the Seychelles is made
on its homepage.
In an article headed “Don’t be .conned,” Nominet explains that
all .sc domain names are subject to the rules of the Seychelles
Registry, “including the fact that local requests for domain names
get priority over international requests.” Nominet’s rules, which
apply to all names ending .uk, do not apply.
"There is currently no country code domain name for Scotland,"
explained Dr Willie Black, managing director of Nominet UK, and
himself a Scot. "While there is nothing inherently wrong with
having a web address which ends .sc, people should be aware what
this means before they sign up."
The .sc domain names are being promoted to Scottish businesses
by a company called SC Registrars. Its homepage, at
scregistrars.sc, makes no reference to the Seychelles. Indeed, its
tag line is “.SCotland’s premier domain reseller” which appears
next to an image of the Saltire.
Mention of the Seychelles is made in the “About Us” and “FAQ”
pages of the site. David Flint, CEO of SC Registrars, said
yesterday:
"SC Registrars has been explicit about the
Seychelles connection. If Nominet UK had taken the time to refer to
our website then it would have discovered that we state clearly
that the suffix .sc is the ccTLD (country code Top Level Domain)
for the Seychelles, in respect of whose registry SC Registrars has
negotiated this unique opportunity for Scotland and that all
registrations are subject to the rules of the .SC ccTLD."
There has been some support for a Scottish domain suffix for
some time. Scotnom Ltd, a non-profit making company, was
unsuccessful in an application to Nominet last year for a second
level domain name, .scot.uk.
