The .co domain is Colombia's country code top level domain. The administration of the .uk.co, which should not be confused with the .co.uk domain, was originally the responsibility of the University of Bogota.
Two years ago, the University signed an agreement with Net Registrar, giving the company the right to develop and sell .uk.co web addresses.
The dispute started in July 2002, when the Colombian government decided to take over the administration of the .co domain. Under a decision made by the country's Council of State, the Colombian Minister of Communications must do this by no later than 31 December 2003.
In December 2002, the University of Bogota informed Net Registrar of the imminent transfer of the domain administration and proposed a new contract "to safeguard uk.co registrations for a short period of time to allow [users] sufficient time to transition to alternative domain names".
In a statement posted on the www.uk.co web site, the University claims that Net Registrar "failed to agree the terms of the new arrangement." According to the statement, this means that the contract with Net Registrar is terminated and the company is no longer entitled to operate .uk.co subdomains.
The statement concludes that "Net Registrar is no longer entitled to permit you to use the uk.co domain names that you had registered with them."
In response, Net Registrar has stated that it tried to obtain assurances on the maintenance of the .uk.co subdomain but that such assurances were never received. The company further states that it has issued proceedings in the High Court of Bogota to prevent the termination of the service.