Tender for .au wholesale registrar

[DomainNames]

Looking at auDA's P&L they only make about 1.5 million a year so bringing down the price of domains by a dollar would probably send them out of business. However looking at their expenses they do seem to burn a lot of cash.

i hope you are joking! They have over $10 million in the bank and make great profits very day!!

You may find some improvements happening after a lot of pressure but this is not enough this is just internal admin stuff clearing out the clutter;

Some informed news I have heard tonight.

1. The new CEO is paid far less than the previous CEO. This is a large cost saving.

2. auDA has $Millions in revenue and in the past gave away a lot via the grants, foundation, auGIF etc etc... There are possible links between the givers and the receivers in some cases.. and certainly people who are given grants etc seem to take care of with the connections made.

3. You may see some recent notices from auDA about more terminations of "providers" whose services had not undergone due process, quoting or tendering etc.

4 The old CEO apparently flew First Class Internationally and at times "6 star hotels" business class for all domestic flights ,. $600,000 travel expenses per year... can this be correct??

The same travel agent was used for years and it was never tendered for. That Travel agent service provider has now been terminated.

New expenses policy is apparently economy class travel... but let's see.

4. The old accountant has been terminated to apparently save costs. Their fees have been questioned and apparently accounting will be done internally except for obligatory external audits which will probably quoted / tendered for.

5. auDA will be going out for more tenders or at least "3 quotes" to make sure they are getting value for money from services. They are looking at policy when more than $5000 cost is involved. This has never happened before at auDA.

6. The website designer who was paid over $100,000 may not be used again......That was not put out to public tender.

7. auDA will now look at a FREE COR and related registry change of code and policy involved. Expect 2017 implementation. The registry has been asked what is needed to be done to make this happen. This will be largely the same as is already available in New Zealand and other places

8. auDA may make any tendering registry offer FREE "lockdown" services. No auDA or registry fees. Registrars able to offer free

9. auDA may allow whois Privacy in line with most countries who already allow it FREE. no auDA charges or fees.

auDA may even list RDNH more predominantly on their website and list Australian related panel decisions and names of RDNH complainants and their lawyers. i

Hopefully more good news soon... but it takes everyone's efforts!

 

[DomainNames]

Forgot
10. RDNH policy update! a Policy review will occur and the expected model is the CIRA model and a fee for guilty RDNH complainants. This is great news finally. Expect this policy change in early 2017. You have been warned RDNH scammers and your lawyers you will be named and shamed no matter how big or "threatening" you are! WWW.RDNH.COM

 

[Lemon]

Have a look (renewal rates). The cost of running a registry where no marketing is done (like .com and .com.au) isn't very much.

https://alpnames.com/domain-registration/domain-registration-price.php
.accountant AUD 1.05
.bid AUD 1.05
.cricket AUD 1.05
.date AUD 1.05
............
There is dozen's of them in that list.

I can not see dozens and you are just picking the few that are. 95% are more expensive that .com.au. Plus the fact that who would want them anyway.
.car AUD 3,893.64
.club AUD 19.59

 

[DomainNames]

I can not see dozens and you are just picking the few that are. 95% are more expensive that .com.au. Plus the fact that who would want them anyway.
.car AUD 3,893.64
.club AUD 19.59

There are many registrars you can find with a google search who offer not only cheap top tier domain name names but a lot of add valuable add ons we have to pay for in Australia. You can easily find deals with free ssl certificates, free hosting, free email, free whois Privacy, Free domain lock, free website etc for 99 cent .com's, 99 pents .co.uk etc

There are also then promo's and codes you can find online to make the renewals the same low price.

 

[Lemon]

You can easily find deals with free ssl certificates, free hosting, free email, free whois Privacy, Free domain lock, free website etc for 99 cent .com's, 99 pents .co.uk etc

All those thing are commercial decisions made by the registrars. Any of the Australian registrars can offer the same, Netfleet, Drop, MelbourneIT it has nothing to do with domain names it is purely a business decision in order to gain customers.

Also on a side point most of those companies who offer free hosting mail etc end up being on some blacklist or other as they get exploited by spammers and scammers, personally I would not go near them and usually end up blocking them.

 

[DomainNames]

All those thing are commercial decisions made by the registrars. Any of the Australian registrars can offer the same, Netfleet, Drop, MelbourneIT it has nothing to do with domain names it is purely a business decision in order to gain customers.

Also on a side point most of those companies who offer free hosting mail etc end up being on some blacklist or other as they get exploited by spammers and scammers, personally I would not go near them and usually end up blocking them.

So the point is many of the existing auDA member and some auDA board members in "supply" who can offer such offers and benefits to .com.au and .net.au registrants refuse to do so? Why not? This makes .com.au and .net.au are overall less attractive and more costly to people compared to what they can get buying a .com or .co.uk from overseas registrars,

Is .au lockdown available ongoing Free by Australian registrars? Whois Privacy allowed by auDA and Free.... No is the answer. https://www.ausregistry.com.au/now-is-the-time-to-protect-your-domain-names/

There is nothing wrong with the Free hosting, Free SSL , email etc from the big name overseas registrars they have tens of millions of satisfied customers and they are not blacklisted as you claim. I use them myself in some cases with no issues whatsoever. One registrar does around $3 Billion USD annually.

 

[DomainNames]

Looking at auDA's P&L they only make about 1.5 million a year so bringing down the price of domains by a dollar would probably send them out of business. However looking at their expenses they do seem to burn a lot of cash.

They give money away via the very questionable auDA Foundation and a lot of money spent without proper process, tenders, massive costs for websites, rent, travel, staff ammenties, legal fees, consultants etc. auDA has over $12 million PROFITS in the bank. Not bad for a "not for profit". $600,000 on travel in just 1 year and first class travel for some previously means there is plenty of wastage.

auDA could close tomorrow and a team of 3 people at the Department of Communications could probably do the same work working from the existing Federal Government offices.

 

[DomainNames]

Federal Government Contracts and tenders
Tenders
The Department advertises open tenders and expressions of interest on the Australian Government tendering website, in accordance with the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013. The current list can be found on AusTender website.

Suppliers interested in tendering for department contracts should visit the AusTender website.

Annual Procurement Plan
Annual Procurement Plans for the Department can be found on AusTender website.

Information about the Department’s tenders, expressions of interest, industry consultations
Government policy requires that specific procurement procedures are to be followed when the value of the goods or services of a particular procurement is above the $10,000 threshold. Detailed information about the Department’s access and equity policy is available on our multicultural access equity page. Contractors should familiarise themselves with this policy.

Detailed information about the department’s fraud control policy is available on the Department’s fraud control policy page. Contractors should familiarise themselves with this policy.

Senate Order on departmental and agency contracts
The Senate Order list sets out the Department’s contracts with consideration to the value of AUD$100,000 (GST inclusive) or more, which have not been fully performed or were entered into during the 12 months reporting period.

The most recent Senate Order lists for the Department are on our Senate Order page.

Complaints
Should you wish to lodge a complaint or raise an issue regarding any procurement conducted by the Department, you can contact the Procurement and Contracts Branch via compliments complaints and feedback

 

[DomainNames]

https://www.communications.gov.au/who-we-are/department/tenders-and-procurement/tenders
Tenders
We buy goods and services from outside the department. The way we do this is with set by the Commonwealth Procurement Rules. A core principle in these rules is value for money.

To make sure we achieve value for money in all our purchases, we:

• encourage competition
• promote the use of resources in an efficient, effective, ethical and economical way
• make decisions that are accountable and transparent.

We publish all open tender opportunities on the Australian Government Electronic Tender System to AusTender. We also report all awarded contracts greater than $10 000 on AusTender.

 

[DomainNames]

The point is auDA needs to go for open tenders for anything over $10,000 to be legit. This would include to supply Legal, Travel, Security, website upgrades, Wholesale Registry Monopoly Contract ( $100 million !! )etc. They have not been doing this and this. Why not?

What have the auDA staff and auDA Board members been doing all these years? Who has made money from it while on the auDA board, as a auDA supplier or "grant" recipient?

 

[Scott.L]

auDA is government endorsed by the government and not a government entity, that legislation cited is related to Commonwealth entities not entities governed by the corporations act.

Commonwealth entities
(1) A Commonwealth entity is:
(a) a Department of State; or
(b) a Parliamentary Department; or
(c) a listed entity; or
(d) a body corporate that is established by a law of the Commonwealth; or
(e) a body corporate that:
(i) is established under a law of the Commonwealth (other than a Commonwealth company); and
(ii) is prescribed by an Act or the rules to be a Commonwealth entity.

.au Domain Administration Ltd (auDA) is the policy authority and industry self-regulatory body for the .au domain space.
In December 2000, the Australian Government formally endorsed auDA as the appropriate body to administer the .au domain space. The Government holds reserve powers in relation to domain names under the Telecommunications Act 1997.
.

 

[Scott.L]

show me the rule an open tender is a must do in accordance with the auDA constitution?
the acceptence by the review panel 2012 confuses me, it says
d) if renegotiations with AusRegistry fail, auDA should proceed to conduct a formal RFT process; and
e) the auDA Board should publicly commit to undertaking a formal RFT process once the renegotiated registry agreement expires

OK - if renegotiation fails with Ausregistry then auDA will undertake a RFT process once the registry agreement expires - So who manages the domain space if the registry agreement expired?

And, how long will the RFT take in reviewing all the candidates if any at all. Somehow it looks like Ausregistry will always be the preferred registry.

The only exception I found - c) auDA should seek stakeholder input on relevant negotiating factors prior to the renegotiations with AusRegistry; well that didnt happen unless the relevant negotiating factors prior to the renegotiation with Ausregistry were simply with Austregistry as the stakeholder. LOL


.

 

[DomainNames]

Any updates from auDA and the Board what they are doing to improve the registry for the benefit of Australian Domain Name Registrants and consumers?

Why has this not gone to tender? Where is the Transparency?

When was the last wholesale domain name price decrease in Australia?

How much is auDA and Ausregistry making from every .au Registered, renewed and Change of Registrant Fee.... $ Millions a year... why? auDA is supposed to be a "not for profit"!

 

[DomainNames]

auDA is government endorsed by the government and not a government entity, that legislation cited is related to Commonwealth entities not entities governed by the corporations act.

Commonwealth entities
(1) A Commonwealth entity is:
(a) a Department of State; or
(b) a Parliamentary Department; or
(c) a listed entity; or
(d) a body corporate that is established by a law of the Commonwealth; or
(e) a body corporate that:
(i) is established under a law of the Commonwealth (other than a Commonwealth company); and
(ii) is prescribed by an Act or the rules to be a Commonwealth entity.

.au Domain Administration Ltd (auDA) is the policy authority and industry self-regulatory body for the .au domain space.
In December 2000, the Australian Government formally endorsed auDA as the appropriate body to administer the .au domain space. The Government holds reserve powers in relation to domain names under the Telecommunications Act 1997.
.

auDA is actually a "contract" supplier to the Commonwealth to provide the Australian Domain Name Admin Service. As such they are also bound by certain rules under that and so in turn is the subcontractor for the Wholesale Registry.

 

[Lemon]

When was the last wholesale domain name price decrease in Australia?

That will NEVER EVER happen.
For me $11 AU which is about $8.25 US per year RETAIL is a reasonable price and one of the cheaper extensions so please stop going on about wholesale pricing as it detracts from your argument.

Why has this not gone to tender? Where is the Transparency?

Why not ask Tim our elected board member who campaigned and was elected, mainly through the members on DNTrade, on exactly this point. I think many a politician has gotten the boot for BROKEN PROMISES.

Since the last board members were elected things seem to have gone downhill with regards to transparency. I suspect the first we members hear of changes is when they make the announcement that the deal has been done.

I recommend that all members and potential new members make sure that they renew their membership on time or join now as to vote in the next election you need to have been a member for at least 3 months. Members have to be approved at the next board meeting which could be 2 months away as these meeting are now secret with no notification as to when they occur. The only way to implement change is to have a say.

 

[Scott7]

Why not ask Tim our elected board member who campaigned and was elected, mainly through the members on DNTrade, on exactly this point. I think many a politician has gotten the boot for BROKEN PROMISES.

I was under the impression that it was the additional campaigning that Tim did outside of DNTrade that got him across the line. If it had just been members here, then surely Shane would have got elected too. That would have been ideal, as it's very difficult for any one individual, no matter who they are, to initiate the sort of changes that many domainers are wanting. Kudos to Tim for putting his hand up and seeking to be an influence on our behalf. Easier said than done, for sure, however, I'm of the opinion that we're in a better position with him on the board than if he'd missed out on election.

 

[DomainNames]

That will NEVER EVER happen.
For me $11 AU which is about $8.25 US per year RETAIL is a reasonable price and one of the cheaper extensions so please stop going on about wholesale pricing as it detracts from your argument.

Why not ask Tim our elected board member who campaigned and was elected, mainly through the members on DNTrade, on exactly this point. I think many a politician has gotten the boot for BROKEN PROMISES.

Since the last board members were elected things seem to have gone downhill with regards to transparency. I suspect the first we members hear of changes is when they make the announcement that the deal has been done.

I recommend that all members and potential new members make sure that they renew their membership on time or join now as to vote in the next election you need to have been a member for at least 3 months. Members have to be approved at the next board meeting which could be 2 months away as these meeting are now secret with no notification as to when they occur. The only way to implement change is to have a say.

Lemon you are wrong. Actually several overseas wholesale registries lowered their wholesale pricing in recent years. A google search will show you why, by how much and by who.

auDA needs to remove any contracted wholesale registry supplier from the auDA Board and stop their power of influence where it may have financial benefits involved.

The Australian Wholesale Registry should be run by a 100% Australian owned entity, not a foreign owned one whose aim is the maximise their own profits.


auDA needs to start thinking and acting in terms of the existing Australian Domain Name Registrant consumers and not itself, any auDA board member or SUPPLY registry, registrars etc.

 

[DomainNames]

This is the sort of meeting information auDA previously posted for the public...
https://www.auda.org.au/index.php/p...try-competition-advisory-panel/icap-20080605/

 

[DomainNames]

auDA membership issues:

When Supply can stack membership in both supply and demand things may never improve.

It seems apparent some Supply organisations had their family, staff, friends all join up as Demand members also to sway results in favour of Supply related agenda's over recent years.

For $22 a year Supply seemingly signed up a lot of "Demand" members whereas the fee's are rules for the Supply membership is harder to "stack".. They seemingly had that covered also with their associated entities etc.

auDA Membership needs to be changed to the Canada membership model - FREE membership for all domain name registrants. 1 vote per person, public forum for elections with Q & A, No wholesale registry supplier ( or related entity or people) on the board with any power over policy or tendering decisions etc

Wake up people.