In-fighting at Nominet results in government reform powers

Following some serious disagreements on the board of the company responsible for the control of .uk domain names, the government has unveiled legislation which allows it to take over and reform the company if it is deemed necessary.

Nominet is the not-for-profit organisation responsible for maintaining the register of .uk web addresses and ensuring that computers around the world can find .uk domains. The company underwent a rocky period earlier this month, with members of the board complaining that the CEO and chairman were 'mismanaging' things, and calling for their resignations.

At the time, this attracted the scrutiny of the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR), which asked Nominet to justify why it shouldn't be subject to government control. Now, new legislation has been revealed which gives the government powers to take over and reform Nominet, should it be considered necessary.

The reserve powers can be called upon by the government if required to ensure that Nominet continues to act in the best interest of all, but all parties seem relatively keen to keep the status quo if at all possible, and no-one seems keen on government intervention in the running of .uk.