Small firm punches above its weight to keep domain name

A software company from Bournemouth has beaten the UK government in a fight to keep its domain name.

The domain name in question is fsa.co.uk licensed to Findlay Steele Associates in April 1997 but a problem has arisen due to a clash with finance watchdog the FSA.

Chancellor Gordon Brown changed the name of the UK's financial regulatory body to the Financial Services Authority in October 1997.

The government body claimed people trying to find its site were confused and personal emails were getting lost.

A spokesman from the quango said: "We have the .gov.uk domain name which is quite a reasonable one to have but there has been confusion over the .co.uk name."

Although the FSA said this gave it the right to take the domain name, Nominet, the domain name organisation that is able to arbitrate between disputing bodies and revoke names, disagreed.

Nominet said: "We note that the complainant (the Financial Services Authority) has intimated that it may issue legal proceedings in respect of the domain name. Nominet also notes that in spite of a lapse of approximately four years since the registration was made the complainant has not so far issued legal proceedings."

A government spokesman said: "We've noticed Nominet's decision and are considering what steps to take next."