Current domain name designations in Hong Kong inclde .com.hk, .edu.hk, and .org.hk, and many website and business owners have argued that they are happy with these categories, and resent being forced to pay again to protect their brand.

Speaking to the South China Morning Post this week, Jim Morgan, founder and chief technology officer of security firm Datalude, suggested that the move would "create anarchy", as businesses rush to register domain names with the Hong Kong local authority.

"The resulting legal disputes and unfairness would go down in folklore. The other outcome would be that a large amount of money would find its way into Hong Kong Domain's coffers," he predicted.

Mr Morgan also observed that:

"I see no real need for the .hk namespace. We already have a .com.hk which conforms, more or less, to accepted international standards."