BREXIT PUNISHMENT: EU could SHUT DOWN 300,000 UK websites, Brussels warns

BRUSSELS will delete hundreds of thousands of UK websites, unless a new Brexit deal is negotiated.

16:19, Tue, Apr 3, 2018 | UPDATED: 19:06, Tue, Apr 3, 2018

The news comes after the EU Commission published a report to stakeholders saying: “By default, when the UK leaves the European Union, and any transition period ends, UK persons and organisations that have registered .EU domain names will no longer be legally eligible for these registrations.”

"As of the withdrawal date, undertakings and organisations that are established in the United Kingdom but not in the EU and natural persons who reside in the United Kingdom will no longer be eligible to register .eu domain names or, if they are .eu registrants, to renew .eu domain names registered before the withdrawal date."

Jean Claude Juncker GETTY

The EU Commission will revoke over 300,000 UK websites with the .EU domain

The EU is going out of their way to 'punish' Britain and claim ownership of the whole of Europe on the Internet.
Reddit user

As the UK is expected to become a non-EU country by March 30, 2019, the rules for EU will no longer apply to Britain at the time.

So, all UK websites with an .EU domain registered will not be allowed to get renewed, the EU commission announced.

They also added that existing .EU domains might be withdrawn immediately post-Brexit, with a minimal chance of appeal.

EU Commission GETTY

The EU Commission published the report to stakeholders outlining their harsh decision

EURid, the consortium which regulates the domain, was taken aback by the startling decision led by the EU commission.

They had received a link to the statement of the European Commission and were completely uninvolved in the decision-making process.

In 2016, EURid had previously announced that no action would be taken against owners of .EU domains after Brexit. However, the EUrid did comment that this might change as they expected further instructions from the EU Commission in regards to the schedule and details of the post-Brexit deal.

However, EURid claims goes completely against the internet industry, which often allow the "grandfathering" of domains. For instance, the .SU domain for the Soviet Union still exists, even though the Soviet Union had disappeared in 1991.

Netizens on Reddit expressed outrage at the EU Commission's decision. One said: "But then the Brits wouldn't be punished for turning their backs on the EU! No no no, we can't have that. Maximum contrarianism is the only way Brussels will handle this affair!"

Another commented: "The EU is going out of their way to 'punish' Britain and claim ownership of the whole of Europe on the Internet."

Official statistics from EURid show that an alarming 317,000 owners of .EU domains based in the UK risk losing their website name because of Brexit.