More than 1,300 domain names have been snapped up this morning following today's launch of the .me.uk suffix.

The new second level domain (SLD) is the first to be introduced since Nominet started operating the .uk registry in 1996.

It won the backing of almost 75 per cent of those Nominet members that voted on the new SLD during December and January. They backed a move to introduce a sliding scale of charges intended to stop speculators and cybersquatters.

Wholesale charges start at £50 (plus VAT) for anyone looking to purchase a .me.uk domain this month. The wholesale price drops to £5 (plus VAT) by July.

The .me.uk suffix is geared for personal use giving Net users a more "natural" home for their names.

Instead of JohnSmith.co.uk, for example, users can now own JohnSmith.me.uk.

However, today's launch has managed to attract a number of wags keen to make the most of the new SLD.

Bugger.me.uk, love.me.uk, and kiss.me.uk have all been snapped up.

There are others too - as you can well imagine - but a sense of decency prevents us from printing them here. ®