A deal to acquire Slovakian registry SK-NIC by a large British company CentralNic might be finalized in the near future. The acquisition will cost 21-26 million euro and the finalization of the deal will mean that the control over Slovakian ccTLD has been transferred to CentralNic. As it was reported previously, this prospect concerns Slovakian society. Many of the leading Slovakian domain registrars and hosting companies opposed the deal and organized a petition for it to be cancelled (around 10 thousand people signed the petition).
One of the main concerns of the public is that the British company might use .SK not for its intended purpose. Truth be told it has done so in the past. CentralNic, for example, is the registry for Laos’s ccTLD .LA. However, it is marketed as a domain for Los Angeles and not Laos. Moreover, the company operates .PW domain zone of the island state of Palau, however, it is advertised as an abbreviation of Professional Web. Slovakians believe that the same fate awaits their ccTLD.
The head of CentralNic Ben Crawford felt necessary to dispel these fears. He admitted that some national domains managed by the company were indeed repurposed. However, he highlighted that this would be impossible with .SK because of the terms of the contract with Slovakian government. “CentralNic has never had plans to repurpose .sk, and CentralNic commits not to market it with any other meaning than as the Slovak country code,” Domain Incite quoted Crawford.
