Nominet is the body responsible for the administration of most domains ending in .uk. (Second-level domains it does not control include .nhs.uk, .gov.uk and .ac.uk, domains of the NHS, government and academic organisations respectively.) It is a non-profit organisation, limited by guarantee. It is recognised by the UK government as the official registrar of the .uk TLD. Unlike the equivalent bodies in most other countries, Nominet does not itself sell or register domain names (this is carried out by registrars such as domainmonster.com), but is able to provide neutral advice to registrants about registering, maintaining and protecting Domain Names. Currently, there are about 5.5 million .uk domain names in use, with an annual growth rate of over 18%. It is the fourth largest TLD in the world.

Nominet welcomes suggestions about .uk policy development. One of its responsibilities is to deal with disputes over domain names, via the Dispute Resolution Service (DRS), which offers a free mediation service. This body addresses accusations of abuses such as cybersquatting or trademark infringement. Nominet was founded in 1996 following overwhelming demand on the previous body, a voluntary group established in the 1980s known as the "Naming Committee".

By Natalie Catchpole