Scenario: A project team in the Institution has purchased a top level domain with a .org suffix, outside the main Institution domain, in order to expose and store its project outputs. The project is now developing into a successful service, there are numerous dependencies, and users have come to trust the domain. But the project manager failed to renew the domain name subscription, and it has now been purchased by a third party. This third party is requesting a significant fee to release the domain name back to the Institution.
If your resources are located on the main Institutional website (usually in the .ac.uk second level domain, managed by JANET), then your domain is unlikely to disappear unless there are major changes affecting your institution.
If, however, you are using an alternative domain name (such as .org, .org.uk, .co.uk or .com) then care is needed in managing domain registrations. Internal administrative management procedures will need to be in place to ensure that the domain name is renewed prior to the expiry.
You may ask why anyone would wish to make use of a non-.ac.uk domain in light of such possible dangers. JANET does not sell off its domains to the highest bidder. Instead it has strict eligibility guidelines that may not be met by short-term, collaborative or cross-sectoral projects and services. Equally within Institutions, the allocation of fourth level sub-domains (e.g. specialproject.london.ac.uk) is often tightly controlled or subject to considerable bureaucracy.
- Carry out an audit of the Institutions use of non- .ac.uk domains.
- Ensure that such domains have adequate administrative processes in place to ensure that the domain name is not lost if, for example, project funding ceases and staff involved in the project leave the Institution.
- Carry out a risk assessment of the dangers of losing such domains, and the costs your Institution may be willing to pay to claim back the domain.