Would someone please advise me on something which I am finding confusing?

I wanted to check whether my planned domain name was already in use. I went to www.internic.com and was disappointed to find that someone else had registered it already.

I then went to www.internic.co.uk, as I am UK-based anyway, and wanted to do a similar search for a .co.uk domain name. I couldn't see a way to execute a simple search, I seemed to be led straight to an order form. The cost was stated as $200.

I had always thought that registering domain names costs $70. Also, why couldn't I just do a simple search before going through the rigmarole of filling in the form?

Any guidance gratefully received.

Best regards

Phil Whitting

www.register.com registers about 3,000 domains a week and it's FREE...even for UK sites (except for the $70 interNIC fee)

They even give you a "Coming Soon" notice.

HOWEVER, they will try and sell you their Hosting Service.

Don Alm

... and they are very good. I do have to pay £79 per UK domain however (you are prompted to pay by credit card straight away). I don't understand why they charge more than for .com names, which are usually more valuable. Also it is not possible to register two-letter names, whereas you can for .com ones I believe (if there are any left). The situation for Australia seems to be even worse - it looks like you have to be a resident.

A tip: if you plan to register a lot of .co.uk names, sign up with www.nic.uk, at a cost of £400. I believe that you can then pay only £20 each time. I have just subscribed myself (after having registered about 20 names!), but I have yet to receive the papers.

Richard.