The most common names for UK use end in ".co.uk" or ".com". The rules on these are fairly relaxed - for example, there is no restriction on a private individual holding a ".com" name. However, cyber-squatting (the process of deliberately obtaining a domain name because it is likely to be associated with some other company or product) is not allowed. For example, if your direct competitor is "Joe Bloggs the plumber", you are not allowed to register "JoeBloggsPlumbing.com", just so that he can't have it!

The choice of domain suffix is quite wide. In addition to the ubiquitous ".com", there is now ".info", ".biz", ".mobi", ".tel" and many more, including those associated with individual countries such as ".tv", a major source of revenue for the tiny islands of Tuvalu.