Nominet, which manages the UK ccTLD .UK, is undergoing a period of reform. It began with an emergency general meeting in March, during which most registry leaders were dismissed. The reform efforts include establishing new advisory bodies, such as the UK Registrar Advisory Council (UKRAC). The council will comprise six people: two members from the larger registrars, two from the medium-small registrars, and two independents/domainers.
According to Domain Incite, Peter Sunde, who founded the Pirate Bay file-sharing website, has been nominated as a candidate for UKRAC. More precisely, he put his own candidacy forward through Sarek, which he manages and which belongs to the category of small and medium-sized businesses. Sarek, together with another one of Sunde’s companies, Njalla, offers anonymous domain registration services. The companies simply register domains for themselves, and then give customers full control over the domain, without even recording their names and contact information. Peter Sunde tried to obtain ICANN accreditation for his companies, but he was refused. He very eloquently noted that ICANN obviously fears that his business would become a "pain in the ass" for the corporation.
Likewise, Benedict Addis of the Registrar of Last Resort Foundation is also on the ballot. He is a former UK cyber-cop and represented law-enforcement bodies in the ICANN community. The online voting will end on July 22, and the results will be announced a few days later.
