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in fact, the article seems to indicate he is handling things well.

In terms of .au, yes I think he is. The truth is, there isn't all that much to do.

.org.au is a different matter however. People frequently complain of long delays and "being ignored" when attempting to register or redelegate names in this namespace. It didn't happen to me ... but then, I registered zeta.org.au before 1994 ...

The problems people are having with .org.au were mirrored a few years ago with .com.au registrations - it took several weeks to register a new domain. At this time Robert solved the problem by appointing Melbourne IT as the registrar for com.au. They cleared the huge backlog in about a month and then brought the cycle time down to 3 days.

So the problems with .org.au could be fixed as easily, and it doesn't require Robert to give up ownership of .au.

The question of new 2LDs under .au is a tricky one - Robert refuses (or ignores, which is the same thing) all requests for new 2LDs. Is this "handling things well"? I don't know, but given the ridiculous TLDs which have been approved (.museum, for xenu's sake! Why don't these fuckers fit under .org?) maybe being as tight as a fish's asshole on new 2LDs is exactly what's required.

Nick.

I'd be interested in hearing more about this ".au is global" if it's actually true - and I doubt it. http://www.melbou rne it.com.au/ver2/html/services/indexinww.htm states:

The .com.au is the official designated space for Australian Internet names - it is the official space for Australian business. In order to register a .com.au domain space you must be a registered Australian commercial entity and your Internet name must be derived from your business name.

Melbourne IT's apparantly also into the .com registration business, so perhaps this is where they got confused.

In Australia, I gather I would be up the creek.

In Australia, to have registered panda.com.au in the first place, it would have had to have been a registered business name - ie you would have had to be Panda Computing. (Actually, Panda Video Productions has panda.com.au). You can't actually even register a domain with a trademark - a lot of companies who want a marking campaign based around www.mynewestproduct.com.au have had to go an register a shelf business name "MyNewestProduct Pty Ltd".

I believe .net.au and .org.au are somewhat easier to get - Internet Names Australia handles .com.au registrations - their policy is here. See www.aunic.net for the others.

I'm not sure about what happens if you actually register someone else's trademark - or if someone's newly registered trademark intersects with your name.

In Australia, I gather I would be up the creek.

In Australia, to have registered panda.com.au in the first place, it would have had to have been a registered business name - ie you would have had to be Panda Computing. (Actually, Panda Video Productions has panda.com.au). You can't actually even register a domain with a trademark - a lot of companies who want a marking campaign based around www.mynewestproduct.com.au have had to go an register a shelf business name "MyNewestProduct Pty Ltd".

I believe .net.au and .org.au are somewhat easier to get - Internet Names Australia handles .com.au registrations - their policy is here. See www.aunic.net for the others.

I'm not sure about what happens if you actually register someone else's trademark - or if someone's newly registered trademark intersects with your name.

To quote from Internet Names Australia's (the .com.au domain name register) the .com.au domain has similar rules to .ca:
'[a business] currently registered and trading in Australia [may] register an Internet address (domain name) that is closely aligned with their commercial name.'

There is also a provision disallowing generic product names (whois.aunic.net has no listing for beer.com.au for instance :-) ).

However there are several problems with this policy.
(i) Businesses cannot use registered trademarks as domain names. They get around this by registering 'shelf' business names, ie ones they're never going to use... This annoys people with interests in promoting a commercial product, but they get around it by registering a shelf name they're never going to use. Not ideal.
(ii) The above provision also causes trouble by allowing people to squat on non-generic, but recognisable names by registering a related business name. The national youth ('alternative') radio station, Triple J, has a website at http://triplej.abc.net.au, but of course, domain name guessing might lead a "young fan" to type 'http://www.jjj.com.au' (JJJ being the station ID), which is currently (and amusingly defensively) being squatted on.

Melbourne IT - the .com.au monopoly
(thankyou Robert Elz)


http://www.ina.com.au/accounts/pricing.html


Why does .com.au cost $15 more than .com?

Having dealt a bit with domain registration in Australia, this is hardly surprising to me. They are a little up-tight it would seem, at least compared to .com and .nz - There are many restrictions on who can have what domains in Australia, most notably the requirement that the applicant have an ACN (Australian Company Number) or ABRN (Australian Business Registration Number, I think) and that the name must be directly related to the company (i.e. the company's name or an accronym of it). Also, each commercial entity can have only one domain name, so much for covering misspellings etc... Also, you can't have a domain name that is the same as (or derived from) an Australian place name (this includes suburbs etc). Oh yes, and generic terms, which is, I assume, the rule that is responsible for there being no 'internet.com.au'...

Although the first-come-first-served basis employed in many other places is somewhat open to abuse, it also seems to beter serve it's market.

See INA's policy here

Over-all, Australia has some very limiting Internet policies.