If .au was open for direct registrations (eg. domainname.au) would you get one today?

[findtim]

read the terms CAREFULLY, from what i have read you could waste a lot of time finding domains worth anything only to get dumped in the end.
i also suspect ( ********no proof******** ) that some registras can hold your money for 5 yrs? and then tell you that you didn't get the domain ! and give you just your money back, things i have read are very loose and can be read many ways, but i haven't read anything for @6 months so not sure whats changed.

tim

 

[Lorenzo]

yeah well...NAH!

Thanks

 

[Shane]

oh nevermind I found the .nz site...is anyone of you going to register any?

I haven't registered any new names, but I have picked up the .nz for a couple of my developed .co.nz domains.
I also have a .net.nz domain where the .nz is now a "conflicted name". We'll see how that one plays out...

 

[Erwin]

Who's to say longevity of a domain will give it precedence to a right in owning the .au level?
The only thing I can see is an auction system where .com.au v net.au owners duke it out..

 

[Lorenzo]

Who's to say longevity of a domain will give it precedence to a right in owning the .au level?
The only thing I can see is an auction system where .com.au v net.au owners duke it out..

yes but what's the point when they just keep creating more stupid extensions?

I lost interest in the last years mainly because of the floods of new silly extensions ICANN created.

When I ranted about it on a leading american domain forum, most old time domainers could not care less, while others faceless men even claimed that it only increased the .com value.

I think that it had become a ridicolous Ponzi scheme where the only people making money are the Registrars and of course the ICANN.

 

[petermeadit]

The 2015 Policy Panel will meet 8th Oct. to reach an outcome for the recommendations to the board. I want to put my opinion out here in the public domain.

I nominated for the panel to get the voice of DNTrade members heard. But also because I am very passionate about these industries and the people involved.

I have worked very hard during this year to remain diplomatic and apolitical. I have seen a lot of perspectives from a lot of people, both for and against direct registration of .au, and it has been a journey for me to get a broad spectrum of interests.

However rightly or wrongly my position has remained constant.

I chose option C on the above poll:
* Maybe, but don't want my current .com.au to be negatively affected

Here is some of my reasoning and some observations:
-- I do not see a critical business driver for .au at this immediate time, so no need for it right now.
-- I understand there is a lot of value tied up in .com.au names, which should be esteemed and value recognised.
-- The rise of .anything has changed, or will change the way the general public think of domain names.
-- Only a small percentage of the general population know anything about the investment value of domain names.
-- If the domain name is not available, the next best extension is often chosen.
-- The existing policies for .com.au and .net.au are good, and the auDRP is well established.

So I can therefore say that the future of .au direct registrations is implicitly tied to the implementation methodology; endeavour to put the policies in place to ensure the current .com.au holder is not going to be negatively affected.

As always, I am keen for further robust discussion here on this topic. But I just don’t have the inclination for responding to any rubbishing comments or bad forum Etiquette, or any which appear to breach the forum rules.

My $0.02 worth

 

[Scott.L]

we buy and sell words and coupled to it, is the extension. multiple extensions means "confusion" you see, those unique combination of words like firewood, carhire, homeloan, etc are generic combinations and associated to these are good websites but 80% good generic domains are designed to route type-in traffic to major site brands ....also type into your browser address bar some generic domains and keyword combination like finance, childcare, rentals and you either get a poorly developed one page website, a for sale page or no page at all, this means no-one [public] knows How to buy a premium domain name or no-one has the money to buy it or company's are simply hoarding the domains and those 'words' are limited.
Either, a hole in the market exists for those who own it and they cant find an end user, cant negotiate, or no time to try therefore. The alternative for the "public" is to be creative and register MelbourneTileCompany-com-au well that's a crappy $10 domain, but who cares, its only $10 for the idiot who couldn't find any "alternative". Now the new .au gives this idiot a way in without paying a high price for a valuable [rare] domain name like "Tiles" [routes to a website] ....AUDA should invest in educating the public about the value of "premium" domain names instead of, fleecing those that took the time, patience and perseverance to make the .com.au extension the Aussie online king. The AUDA should be developing a real viable link to the public and domain name owners but wait, I must be dreaming, this is a fantasy otherwise it would of happened by now, its been 30 years ....okay, so now you see this wont do.... Unlike the multiple extensions released in the new GTLD space, those GTLD are unique niche orientated shit. In fact, domain names in Au-space represents a future .au coupled with the new GTLD like Jims.plumbing.au or melbourne.hire.au therefore, the roll out of the .au extension is just a money grab before the next roll out of Geo targeted Extensions. more hoarding, more crappy websites, more forsale signs, more, more, more nothingness. On the brighter side...you can register MelbourneTileCompany.com.au if you like, its available.

 

[Joel]

I've been in Spain for a few months and I've noticed a few things in regards to domains (mainly in ads/on vehicles). There are two extensions here that anyone seems to care about: .com and .es. I haven't seen a single ad with .com.es - that's not to say they aren't used, just not the default or preferred extension. The extension .es has existed for a long time though and it wasn't added as an afterthought or to complement an existing extension hence why it's everywhere. .es previously had tight restrictions on the usage but these were relaxed about 10 years ago.

Whilst I think going ahead with .au is simply a cash-grab and I don't see it as necessary in any way, it'll catch on and be widely used and in time may even become the default in years to come if it goes ahead. I assume the restrictions on them would be the same as existing .com.au requirements to maintain the credibility and trust associated with Australian extensions.

When it comes to preferential rights/supply, I really liked the way .nz was released as it protected the investment already in place by existing registrants in the NZ namespace.

No doubt the next few years will be interesting to say the least