Brexit and beyond: Impacts and best practices for domain registrants around the world Prudence Malinki Global Relationship Manager Brian King Director of Internet Policy and Industry Affairs
2 Brexit /ˈbrɛksɪt,ˈbrɛgzɪt/ noun The withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union.
How Did the UK Get Here? 3 A referendum (public) vote took place in June 2016 and the UK public voted to leave with a simple 51.89% to 48.11% majority Since then there have been many attempts to negotiate a Brexit Deal (a plan for the transition) and to agree the terms upon which the UK will exit the EU The UK is the first EU member state to attempt to leave the EU since its inception in 1993
Brexit and Beyond 4 Brexit Remorse : A poll taken by YouGov two years after Brexit shows that voters are increasingly regretting their decision to leave the EU With a Parliament currently divided, the outcome is unclear. *Data from YouGov Polls, graphic courtesy of Chartr Daily
Global Brexit Impact and Possible Scenarios Global business impact Possible post-brexit outcomes and scenarios
Global Impact of Brexit: 6 Citizenship and travel: European residents for less than 5 years are not entitled to stay - applications for Settled status after 5 years residence Uncertainty as to visa requirements for travelling across the EU post Brexit Ambiguity relating to UK Constitution vs rights conveyed by EU legislation Currency markets Tax implications Corporate response: Multinational companies closures of UK branches, EU head offices/ factories (Honda, Philips, Panasonic, Sony, Monocle) Stockpiling of products and materials in preparation for trade impacts and difficulties (Coca- Cola, LMVH, Bosch, Nestle) *Source Brexit Impact Tracker, Bloomberg https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/brexit-impact-tracker/
Possible Outcomes 7 There are multiple scenarios that would be the outcome of the Brexit vote: 1. No Brexit- Article 50 rescinded and the UK remains in the EU 2. Deal Brexit- The UK agrees and passes a transition deal and leaves the EU 3. No Deal Brexit- The UK leaves the EU without a deal and no clear transition plan. With a deadline looming (March 29th) Article 50 may need to be extended (requiring unanimous agreement of all Member States)
"Deal Brexit" Possible Scenarios 8 https://macromatters.lgim.com/categories/macrobites/can-someone-pleasetell-us-what-we-just-voted-on/
cctld Requirements and Changes Types of nexus requirements Likely post-brexit changes
Nexus Requirement Examples: France The registrant must be located in the EU or Norway, Iceland, Switzerland or Lichtenstein. 10 Italy Hungary The registrant must be located in the EU, Norway, Iceland, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, San Marino, or the Vatican. The registrant must be located in an EEA or EFTA country, or be a neighboring country of Hungary. Slovakia All WHOIS contacts must have a postal address in an EU Member State, EEA, or EFTA. Bulgaria Croatia Other requirements, including TM
Brexit Implication for UK Registrants Pre Brexit Registration UK Resident In a Post Brexit scenario UK registrant s eligibility for domain registrations comes into question Post Brexit Registration UK Resident (Post Brexit) 11 Registry that has a EU Nexus Requirement Some extensions where UK Registrants could register in Post Brexit scenarios they are no longer eligible. Registry that has a EU Nexus Requirement DOMAIN REGISTRATION GRANTED Some Registries have made allowances to still permit UK registrants, however some have not. DOMAIN REGISTRATION DENIED (ineligible)
Registry Stances and Positions 12 France Italy Bulgaria Hungary Croatia Slovakia Some of the ways Registries are interpreting the eligibility of UK registrants to their domain names are as follows: UK registrants no longer eligible to apply for registrations (Bulgaria) UK registrants are still eligible on basis on membership of EEA/ EEC/ EEFTA/ Council of Europe (Hungary Slovakia) Registries have discretion as to whether UK registrants retain registrant eligibility
Unaffected Registries and Countries 13 Austria Germany Netherlands The following extensions and regions are unaffected by Brexit as their requirements will neither change nor need revision when the UK leaves the EU Sweden Denmark
Registry Stances and Positions (continued) The Stance of the Registry for.eu is slightly different 14.eu is governed by the European Commission (EC) In the occurrence of a No Deal Brexit EURid shall be placing all domain names registered to UK registrants in a Withdrawn status: 2 Notifications: 23rd March EURid sends a notification to registrants 30th March EURid sends a second notification to registrant 2 month Cooling Off period available: allowing time for further updates and modifications, no renewals possible: 30th May 2019 all domain names withdrawn 30th March 2020 domains revoked and available in Batches
Registry Stances and Positions (continued) 15 In a Deal Brexit scenario the withdrawal process is as follows: 2 Notifications: 23rd December 2020 EURid sends a notification to registrants 1 st January 2021 EURid sends a second notification to registrant 2 month Cooling Off period available: allowing time for further updates and modifications, no renewals possible 2 nd March 2021 all domain names withdrawn 1 st January 2022 domains revoked and available in Batches
Changes in Eligibility Criteria 16 Changes are confirmed for the eligibility criteria for.eu domain names. Where EU citizens shall be able to register EU domain names regardless of their country of residence: EU citizens that reside in the UK shall have their eligibility return in Q4 2019 There shall be a reinstatement process that is applicable to them EU citizens with UK addresses shall have their domain names in a withdrawn status for a number of months. https://eurid.eu/en/register-a-eu-domain/brexit-notice/
What Happens Next? 17 The overarching cctld impact is not confirmed yet with a number of registries awaiting the decisions and actions of EURid before they take their actions as to eligibility and requirements of UK registrants
Next Steps Actions needed Best practices
Actions Needed 19 Immediate Identify.eu domains using UK Registrant Details Locate alternative EU based subsidiary/ affiliate Update Registrant information Ongoing Identify whether EMEA address and/or TM is UK based Locate alternative EU based subsidiary/ affiliate Use new EU address for registrations
Best Practices 20 For.eu domain names look at your portfolio and identify domain names that are registered to UK address information. MarkMonitor is performing this analysis for our clients. Please contact your CSM if we haven t already contacted you. Identify eligible subsidiaries or affiliated businesses that can take ownership of the domain names Consult legal, finance, and tax departments Start the process of updating ownership in advance of the withdrawn dates - prevention is better than cure! If no eligible subsidiaries, use local presence or proxy services where possible Reallocate budget: good opportunity to consider letting domains expire if not needed
Brian King, Director of Internet Policy and Industry Affairs +1 443-761-3726 brian.king@markmonitor.com markmonitor.com Prudence Malinki, Global Relationship Manager +44 207-433-4869 prudence.malinki@markmonitor.com markmonitor.com