New requests for an ac.uk Domain

Procedure

Submitting requests:

All requests must be submitted by an Approved ISP unless the domain name request is being submitted by an organisation that is currently connected to the JANET network.  Requests from organisations connected to JANET should be submitted by a recognised JANET contact within their organisation.

Please note: All template requests for new domain names must contain descriptive information of how the domain name/name owner fit the eligibility criteria. This will greatly speed up the process of obtaining a new domain name for applicants.

1. If the organisation requesting the new domain name fits the eligibility criteria, then requests may be submitted either:

   as a formatted template in plain text within the body of an email to the following address: naming-ac@ja.net
   (The Naming Committee is a closed list, whose members will accept/reject the request.)

   or

   in writing to JANET Technical Advisory Group including JANET(UK) Approved ISP membership number. The accepted method of payment is by Approved ISP Membership Account, unless the domain name request is coming from an organisation that is currently connected to the JANET network.

   Postal requests should be in the same format as the template. Please note that requests submitted by post will take longer to process.

2. For any name submitted there are two possible outcomes:

   ACCEPTED. This will mean that there is no objection to the name from the Naming Committee and a positive acknowledgement will be returned to the ISP submitting the request;

   REJECTED. This will mean that the domain name is not acceptable to the Naming Committee. The reason for this would include one or more of the following:

   • wrong template used;
   • sent to wrong e-mail address;
   • insufficient information supplied;
   • request does not fit into the domain's eligibility criteria;
   • template not in plain text;
   • frivolous or time-wasting requests.

   Usually there will be no charge for a request that produces a REJECTED outcome. However, JANET(UK) reserves the right to make a suitable charge for frivolous, time-wasting or other requests which impose an undue use of resources to deal with.

3. The target turnaround time for requests is five working days from JANET(UK)'s receipt of the template. All new requests for domain names will be acknowledged and allocated a ticket reference number upon input into our System. Within approximately five working days a response message will be sent to the submitter of the template advising as to whether the domain name has been ACCEPTED or REJECTED by the Naming Committee.

4. Once payment has been made, in the case of JANET Customers, or the account of the Approved ISP has been charged, ACCEPTED domain names will be put forward for delegation in the DNS. Designated nameservers must be correctly configured to take the new name, preferably at the point when the initial submission of the template requesting the new domain name is effected. Failure to correctly configure the designated nameservers will not prevent delegation in the DNS from JANET(UK)'s point of view.

5. In the case of a REJECTED outcome any subsequent domain name requests for the same end user will be treated as a new request. Therefore a further five working days should be allowed for a response from the Naming Committee. A new template should be completed and submitted to the appropriate mailing list, containing any corrected details or extra information, as necessary, in order for the Naming Committee to review.

6. Each registration lasts for a period of two years from the initial date of the domain name's acceptance by the Naming Committee. From this date the designated Approved ISP will be invoiced for the domain name's maintenance charge.