Nominet launches fund for online good causes

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Nominet, the body responsible for managing and policing .UK domain name registrations, has established a charitable foundation aimed at providing financial aid to internet good causes.

The charitable body has been founded with the aim of promoting "education, research and development initiatives." It is also well funded, with an initial kitty of some £5 million to work with.

Nominet says the money will be drawn from its surplus cash reserves, and will not have any impact on its current operations and cashflow.

"At the heart of our decision is the fact that Nominet is a not-for-profit organisation," says Lesley Cowley, Nominet's chief executive. "We believe any surplus income should be used for the benefit of the UK internet community."

Among the proposals already submitted are requests for a website listing local health facilities and one which proposes establishing an online human rights advocacy group.

"The kind of projects we're looking at are things that will support the UK internet community: education projects, community projects designed to provide access to the internet, training, academic security projects are things that we'd be looking at," says Phil Kingsland, director of marketing communications for Nominet.

The Nominet Foundation's structure is currently being debated, though the company aims to up and running by the summer.

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