Protection of large .com.au portfolio

[brandpluck]

Does anyone have a large .com.au portfolio (i.e. well over 100 names) and has been reviewed for compliance by auDA and 1) had to delete all or most of their names for non-compliance, or 2) was able to prove that your portfolio was in compliance?
If so, what are the best methods to ensure protection of your portfolio? What is the best rationale for holding a large portfolio of names e.g. operating a branding agency? Or is it complete luck of the draw?
I am sitting on a large portfolio and for obvious reasons would like to protect it. Any insight would be appreciated.

 

[brandpluck]

Thanks. Other than your own platform, which is the next best in your opinion? Majority of names are with Drop.com.au. I know the parent company also owns Above.com. What is the best option to park them while having the names with Drop i.e. by simply changing the Name Servers?

 

[snoopy]

My advice would be to diversify into other extensions, .com.au is incredibly risky with all of these deletions.

 

[Data Glasses]

LOL move over to .Cn .....less risk!

 

[Scott7]

Thanks. Other than your own platform, which is the next best in your opinion? Majority of names are with Drop.com.au. I know the parent company also owns Above.com. What is the best option to park them while having the names with Drop i.e. by simply changing the Name Servers?

Bodis.com is excellent for parking and sales landers.

 

[Data Glasses]

Bodis.com is excellent for parking and sales landers.

Happy to agree, Mat used to show his face on Namepros .... although that would be not so smart these days. It has become a different entity

 

[brandpluck]

Apologies if this has been discussed elsewhere, but I just started looking into the new policy. I see no reference to a monetisation exemption. Does this mean that when the policy goes live (anyone know when?) that we can no longer rely on this exemption for owned names? Or is there an expectation that the new policy will only kick in for new registrations? If so, does a renewal qualify as a registration? In your option, what then can domainers rely on to prove compliance?
Any guidance would be appreciated.

 

[eBranding.com.au]

Apologies if this has been discussed elsewhere, but I just started looking into the new policy. I see no reference to a monetisation exemption. Does this mean that when the policy goes live (anyone know when?) that we can no longer rely on this exemption for owned names? Or is there an expectation that the new policy will only kick in for new registrations? If so, does a renewal qualify as a registration? In your option, what then can domainers rely on to prove compliance?
Any guidance would be appreciated.

Below are some pertinent excerpts of the approved, but yet to commence Licensing Rules. You'll need to do your own analysis of your portfolio and eligibility, as there are multiple ways in which you could be eligible for a domain name. With that said, regarding your question about monetisation, I would draw your attention to these areas in the excerpts below: 2.4.4 > (f) > (i) and 1.4 DEFINITIONS > Service > (8)

2.4 ELIGIBILITY AND ALLOCATION CRITERIA
2.4.1 A Person applying for a licence must:
(1) have an Australian presence; and
(2) satisfy any eligibility and allocation criteria for the namespace being applied for as specified in paragraphs 2.4.3 to 2.4.11.
2.4.2 Where a Person is applying for a licence on behalf of a related body corporate, the related body corporate must satisfy the Australian presence requirement.

.au namespace
2.4.3 There are no eligibility and domain name allocation criteria for the .au namespace other than an Australian presence.

com.au and net.au namespace
2.4.4 A Person applying for a licence in the com.au and net.au namespaces must be
(1) a commercial entity; and
(2) the domain name applied for must be:
(a) an exact match of the Person’s company, business, statutory or Personal name; or
(b) an acronym of the Person’s company, business, statutory or Personal name; or
(c) an exact match of the Person’s Australian Trade Mark; or
(d) an exact match to or an acronym of a name of a related body corporate or
(e) an exact match or an acronym of a name of:
- (i) a partnership of which the Person is a partner
- (ii) a trust of which the Person is a trustee; or
(f) an exact match or synonym of the name of:
- (i) a service that the Person provides;
- (ii) goods that the Person sells (whether retail or wholesale);
- (iii) an event that the Person registers or sponsors;
- (iv) an activity that the Person facilitates, teaches or trains;
- (v) a premise which the Person operates and which that Person is providing at the time of the application.

1.4 DEFINITIONS

Exact match means that the domain name being applied for is identical to one, some or all of words or numbers used in the Person’s legal name, business name or Australian Trade Mark. The domain name must use the words or numbers in the same order as they appear in the Person’s legal name, business name or Australian Trade Mark and must not include any additional words or numbers. The following are not included:
(1) commercial status identifiers such as ‘Pty Ltd’;
(2) DNS identifiers such as com.au;
(3) punctuation marks such as an exclamation point or an apostrophe;
(4) articles such as ‘a’, ‘the’, ‘and ’or ‘of’; and
(5) ampersands.

Synonym means a word or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same thing as another word in the English language. Whether a word or phrase is a synonym will be determined by reference to the Oxford Australian Dictionary or Oxford Australian Thesaurus.

Service includes:
(1) a service relating to banking, insurance, and the provision of grants, loans, credit or finance;
(2) a service relating to entertainment, recreation or refreshment;
(3) a service relating to transport or travel;
(4) a service relating to gas, water or electricity;
(5) a service of a kind provided by members of any profession or trade;
(6) a service of a kind provided by government, a government or public authority or a local government;
(7) a service of a kind provided by a not for profit for the benefit of the public or a sector of the community;
(8) a service providing information or a referral to another provider which relates to goods or services used by the public or a sector of the public.

 

[brandpluck]

Below are some pertinent excerpts of the approved, but yet to commence Licensing Rules. You'll need to do your own analysis of your portfolio and eligibility, as there are multiple ways in which you could be eligible for a domain name. With that said, regarding your question about monetisation, I would draw your attention to these areas in the excerpts below: 2.4.4 > (f) > (i) and 1.4 DEFINITIONS > Service > (8)

2.4 ELIGIBILITY AND ALLOCATION CRITERIA
2.4.1 A Person applying for a licence must:
(1) have an Australian presence; and
(2) satisfy any eligibility and allocation criteria for the namespace being applied for as specified in paragraphs 2.4.3 to 2.4.11.
2.4.2 Where a Person is applying for a licence on behalf of a related body corporate, the related body corporate must satisfy the Australian presence requirement.

.au namespace
2.4.3 There are no eligibility and domain name allocation criteria for the .au namespace other than an Australian presence.

com.au and net.au namespace
2.4.4 A Person applying for a licence in the com.au and net.au namespaces must be
(1) a commercial entity; and
(2) the domain name applied for must be:
(a) an exact match of the Person’s company, business, statutory or Personal name; or
(b) an acronym of the Person’s company, business, statutory or Personal name; or
(c) an exact match of the Person’s Australian Trade Mark; or
(d) an exact match to or an acronym of a name of a related body corporate or
(e) an exact match or an acronym of a name of:
- (i) a partnership of which the Person is a partner
- (ii) a trust of which the Person is a trustee; or
(f) an exact match or synonym of the name of:
- (i) a service that the Person provides;
- (ii) goods that the Person sells (whether retail or wholesale);
- (iii) an event that the Person registers or sponsors;
- (iv) an activity that the Person facilitates, teaches or trains;
- (v) a premise which the Person operates and which that Person is providing at the time of the application.

1.4 DEFINITIONS

Exact match means that the domain name being applied for is identical to one, some or all of words or numbers used in the Person’s legal name, business name or Australian Trade Mark. The domain name must use the words or numbers in the same order as they appear in the Person’s legal name, business name or Australian Trade Mark and must not include any additional words or numbers. The following are not included:
(1) commercial status identifiers such as ‘Pty Ltd’;
(2) DNS identifiers such as com.au;
(3) punctuation marks such as an exclamation point or an apostrophe;
(4) articles such as ‘a’, ‘the’, ‘and ’or ‘of’; and
(5) ampersands.

Synonym means a word or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same thing as another word in the English language. Whether a word or phrase is a synonym will be determined by reference to the Oxford Australian Dictionary or Oxford Australian Thesaurus.

Service includes:
(1) a service relating to banking, insurance, and the provision of grants, loans, credit or finance;
(2) a service relating to entertainment, recreation or refreshment;
(3) a service relating to transport or travel;
(4) a service relating to gas, water or electricity;
(5) a service of a kind provided by members of any profession or trade;
(6) a service of a kind provided by government, a government or public authority or a local government;
(7) a service of a kind provided by a not for profit for the benefit of the public or a sector of the community;
(8) a service providing information or a referral to another provider which relates to goods or services used by the public or a sector of the public.

Thanks for providing. I strung together the various clauses to read clearer:

"A person applying for a licence in the com.au namespaces must be a commercial entity and the domain name applied for must be an exact match or synonym of the name of a service that the Person provides.
Services include; a service providing information or a referral to another provider which relates to goods or services used by the public or a sector of the public."

Hmmm....very open to interpretation. Are you aware of a lawyer looking at this and giving their opinion re. monetisation?

 

[Bacon Farmer]

It was written to benefit lawyers.

 

[trellian]

Thanks. Other than your own platform, which is the next best in your opinion? Majority of names are with Drop.com.au. I know the parent company also owns Above.com. What is the best option to park them while having the names with Drop i.e. by simply changing the Name Servers?

Hi,

Drop and Above offers a solution for parked domain that is compliant with the current and will also be compliant with the new policies. And yes using our default parking DNS means that your domains are compliant.

Cheers

 

[brandpluck]

Below are some pertinent excerpts of the approved, but yet to commence Licensing Rules. You'll need to do your own analysis of your portfolio and eligibility, as there are multiple ways in which you could be eligible for a domain name. With that said, regarding your question about monetisation, I would draw your attention to these areas in the excerpts below: 2.4.4 > (f) > (i) and 1.4 DEFINITIONS > Service > (8)

2.4 ELIGIBILITY AND ALLOCATION CRITERIA
2.4.1 A Person applying for a licence must:
(1) have an Australian presence; and
(2) satisfy any eligibility and allocation criteria for the namespace being applied for as specified in paragraphs 2.4.3 to 2.4.11.
2.4.2 Where a Person is applying for a licence on behalf of a related body corporate, the related body corporate must satisfy the Australian presence requirement.

.au namespace
2.4.3 There are no eligibility and domain name allocation criteria for the .au namespace other than an Australian presence.

com.au and net.au namespace
2.4.4 A Person applying for a licence in the com.au and net.au namespaces must be
(1) a commercial entity; and
(2) the domain name applied for must be:
(a) an exact match of the Person’s company, business, statutory or Personal name; or
(b) an acronym of the Person’s company, business, statutory or Personal name; or
(c) an exact match of the Person’s Australian Trade Mark; or
(d) an exact match to or an acronym of a name of a related body corporate or
(e) an exact match or an acronym of a name of:
- (i) a partnership of which the Person is a partner
- (ii) a trust of which the Person is a trustee; or
(f) an exact match or synonym of the name of:
- (i) a service that the Person provides;
- (ii) goods that the Person sells (whether retail or wholesale);
- (iii) an event that the Person registers or sponsors;
- (iv) an activity that the Person facilitates, teaches or trains;
- (v) a premise which the Person operates and which that Person is providing at the time of the application.

1.4 DEFINITIONS

Exact match means that the domain name being applied for is identical to one, some or all of words or numbers used in the Person’s legal name, business name or Australian Trade Mark. The domain name must use the words or numbers in the same order as they appear in the Person’s legal name, business name or Australian Trade Mark and must not include any additional words or numbers. The following are not included:
(1) commercial status identifiers such as ‘Pty Ltd’;
(2) DNS identifiers such as com.au;
(3) punctuation marks such as an exclamation point or an apostrophe;
(4) articles such as ‘a’, ‘the’, ‘and ’or ‘of’; and
(5) ampersands.

Synonym means a word or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same thing as another word in the English language. Whether a word or phrase is a synonym will be determined by reference to the Oxford Australian Dictionary or Oxford Australian Thesaurus.

Service includes:
(1) a service relating to banking, insurance, and the provision of grants, loans, credit or finance;
(2) a service relating to entertainment, recreation or refreshment;
(3) a service relating to transport or travel;
(4) a service relating to gas, water or electricity;
(5) a service of a kind provided by members of any profession or trade;
(6) a service of a kind provided by government, a government or public authority or a local government;
(7) a service of a kind provided by a not for profit for the benefit of the public or a sector of the community;
(8) a service providing information or a referral to another provider which relates to goods or services used by the public or a sector of the public.

Has anyone had a chance to review the new Explanatory Guide from auDA? https://www.auda.org.au/assets/Uplo...main-Administration-Rules-Licensing202008.pdf

For a non-lawyer, this is extremely hard to follow.

From what I can piece together, Recommendation 9 from the auDA PRP stated that 'Domain Monetisation should no longer be a basis to meet the allocation criteria to register a domain name in the .com.au and .net.au domain name spaces'.

The Explanatory Guide made reference to this 'The PRP recommended tightening the allocation rules for the com.au and net.au namespaces and removing domain name monetisation as a basis for satisfying the close and substantial connection rule.', but doesn't elaborate on whether that was recommendation was adopted.

They further stated that: 'The allocation rules for domain monetisation under paragraph 11 of the Guidelines on the Interpretation of Policy Rules for Open 2LDs (2012-05) have not been retained. A Person may apply for a licence for investment purposes provided they satisfy the eligibility and allocation rules for the com.au and net.au namespaces.'

The argument made above re. 2.4.2f(1) Service is clarified in the Explanatory Guidance that 'Service is defined by a non-exhaustive list of services, which are illustrative of the types of services captured by the domain name allocation rule in the com.au, net.au, org.au and asn.au namespaces, which requires that a domain name ‘is an match or synonym of the name of a service that a person provides,’ at the time of application. This definition is broad enough to capture online information and directory services often associated with domain monetisation. See recommendation 8 of the PRP Final Report.'

As such, I find myself more confused than before as to whether monitisation of a name satisfies the eligibility criteria. So are they saying that one cannot satisfy the eligibility and allocation rules by virtue of domain monetisation alone, or am I missing something? Understand that there are multiple ways to prove eligibility, but monetisation is obviously the most prevalent for domain investors. If true, how could anyone prove eligibility?

Would greatly appreciate if someone could clarify this for me.

Thanks in advance

 

[eBranding.com.au]

Firstly, it's worth noting that the addition of the new 'match' definition, as recently approved by the auDA Board and now outlined in the updated Licensing Rules, has the effect of broadening eligibility beyond the previously proposed/published new policy regime (i.e. 'exact match'). These policy changes were published after my previous posts, so I just wanted to flag it.

Monetisation will still be permitted in certain namespaces (i.e. .com.au and .net.au) under the new Licensing Rules, provided that the registrant meets all eligibility requirements (Australian presence, commercial entity, etc).

Monetisation is no longer an explicit component of eligibility, it's now simply one of many activities that could fall under aspects of the eligibility rules. For example, monetisation would typically come under "a service that the Person provides".

Some pertinent excerpts from the Explanatory Guide:

"Service is defined by a non-exhaustive list of services, which are illustrative of the types of services captured by the domain name allocation rule in the com.au, net.au, org.au and asn.au namespaces, which requires that a domain name ‘is an match or synonym of the name of a service that a person provides,’ at the time of application. This definition is broad enough to capture online information and directory services often associated with domain monetisation."

"The nexus between a domain name and a category of close and substantial connection has been clarified and expanded to include a match to, and a synonym of, the name of a service, good, event, activity or premise. This new rule is less restrictive than the ‘connected’ requirement under paragraph 10.1 of the Guidelines on the Interpretation of Policy Rules for Open 2LDs (2012-05), as a synonym provides a broader range of words and descriptive phases that may be used as a domain name. A synonym is also an objective test, as the substitutability of names can be determined by reference to the Oxford Australian Dictionary or the Oxford Australian Thesaurus. For example, a Person who provides gardening services could use landscaping, floriculture, groundskeeping and horticulture as a domain name."​

 

[brandpluck]

Firstly, it's worth noting that the addition of the new 'match' definition, as recently approved by the auDA Board and now outlined in the updated Licensing Rules, has the effect of broadening eligibility beyond the previously proposed/published new policy regime (i.e. 'exact match'). These policy changes were published after my previous posts, so I just wanted to flag it.

Monetisation will still be permitted in certain namespaces (i.e. .com.au and .net.au) under the new Licensing Rules, provided that the registrant meets all eligibility requirements (Australian presence, commercial entity, etc).

Monetisation is no longer an explicit component of eligibility, it's now simply one of many activities that could fall under aspects of the eligibility rules. For example, monetisation would typically come under "a service that the Person provides".

Some pertinent excerpts from the Explanatory Guide:

"Service is defined by a non-exhaustive list of services, which are illustrative of the types of services captured by the domain name allocation rule in the com.au, net.au, org.au and asn.au namespaces, which requires that a domain name ‘is an match or synonym of the name of a service that a person provides,’ at the time of application. This definition is broad enough to capture online information and directory services often associated with domain monetisation."

"The nexus between a domain name and a category of close and substantial connection has been clarified and expanded to include a match to, and a synonym of, the name of a service, good, event, activity or premise. This new rule is less restrictive than the ‘connected’ requirement under paragraph 10.1 of the Guidelines on the Interpretation of Policy Rules for Open 2LDs (2012-05), as a synonym provides a broader range of words and descriptive phases that may be used as a domain name. A synonym is also an objective test, as the substitutability of names can be determined by reference to the Oxford Australian Dictionary or the Oxford Australian Thesaurus. For example, a Person who provides gardening services could use landscaping, floriculture, groundskeeping and horticulture as a domain name."​

Thanks for the response.
Just want to try and clarify this further.
Just taking the example of .com.au domains here...
Assume that one is present in Australia and is a corporate entity - so those two boxes are ticked.

Now lets say that I hypothetically buy a new domain name under the new policy, when in effect, let's call it flowersgalore.com.au. As soon as I buy the name I park it at Uniregistry, which shows relevant ads related to flowers.
Is the argument of eligibility made that I, the owner of flowersgalore.com.au, are providing a service as a referral partner to companies that sell flowers?

The new rule states that the domain name must be a match* or synonym of a service that the Person provides.

'Match means that the domain name being applied for is identical to one, some or all of words or numbers used in the Person’s legal name, business name or Australian Trade Mark. The domain name must use the words or numbers in the same order as they appear in the Person’s legal name, business name or Australian Trade Mark and must not include any additional words or numbers.', which seems to only call out legal names, business names or TMs, not the name of the service itself. But will ignore that for now.

Anyways...are we essentially saying that we are in compliance because we are providing a service, lets call it 'flower advertising referrer', and the name flowergalore.com.au is in compliance because the word flower is identical to one word of the service being provided?

Because to me, the term 'flowergalore' is not identical to one, some or all of the words of the name of the service that I am providing i.e. 'flower advertising referrer'. The term galore makes the name something else. As such, are only one word terms that can be referenced to a dictionary or thesaurus safe?

Or do I have this completely backwards?

Any clarity on this or another illustrative example would be GREATLY appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Scott.L]

Thanks for the response.
Just want to try and clarify this further.
Just taking the example of .com.au domains here...
Assume that one is present in Australia and is a corporate entity - so those two boxes are ticked.

Now lets say that I hypothetically buy a new domain name under the new policy, when in effect, let's call it flowersgalore.com.au. As soon as I buy the name I park it at Uniregistry, which shows relevant ads related to flowers.
Is the argument of eligibility made that I, the owner of flowersgalore.com.au, are providing a service as a referral partner to companies that sell flowers?

The new rule states that the domain name must be a match* or synonym of a service that the Person provides.

'Match means that the domain name being applied for is identical to one, some or all of words or numbers used in the Person’s legal name, business name or Australian Trade Mark. The domain name must use the words or numbers in the same order as they appear in the Person’s legal name, business name or Australian Trade Mark and must not include any additional words or numbers.', which seems to only call out legal names, business names or TMs, not the name of the service itself. But will ignore that for now.

Anyways...are we essentially saying that we are in compliance because we are providing a service, lets call it 'flower advertising referrer', and the name flowergalore.com.au is in compliance because the word flower is identical to one word of the service being provided?

Because to me, the term 'flowergalore' is not identical to one, some or all of the words of the name of the service that I am providing i.e. 'flower advertising referrer'. The term galore makes the name something else. As such, are only one word terms that can be referenced to a dictionary or thesaurus safe?

Or do I have this completely backwards?

Any clarity on this or another illustrative example would be GREATLY appreciated.

Thanks

Look at this way -

com.au and net.au namespace
2.4.4 A Person applying for a licence in the com.au and net.au namespaces must be

1. a commercial entity; and
2. the domain name applied for must be:
(f) a match or synonym of the name of
(i) a service that the Person provides;

Unless I've misinterpreted it - The answer you want is 2.4.4 (2) (f) i

• A service providing information or a referral to another provider which relates to goods or services used by the public or a sector of the public

...This leads into monetisation.

Domain Name Monetisation means an application for a licence by a Person with the sole purpose of selling, leasing or holding the applied for Domain Name to generate revenue. Domain Name Monetisation includes warehousing and registering a licence for the sole purpose of transferring the licence to another Person.

NOTE: For example:

• Affiliate websites where a domain name is chosen and developed as a keyword for websites and advertisements;
• Pay-per-click websites where revenue is earned through the use of proprietary advertising systems;
• Domain parking where advertising is published on the parked domain name;

 

[brandpluck]

Look at this way -

com.au and net.au namespace
2.4.4 A Person applying for a licence in the com.au and net.au namespaces must be

1. a commercial entity; and
2. the domain name applied for must be:
(f) a match or synonym of the name of
(i) a service that the Person provides;

Unless I've misinterpreted it - The answer you want is 2.4.4 (2) (f) i

• A service providing information or a referral to another provider which relates to goods or services used by the public or a sector of the public

...This leads into monetisation.

Domain Name Monetisation means an application for a licence by a Person with the sole purpose of selling, leasing or holding the applied for Domain Name to generate revenue. Domain Name Monetisation includes warehousing and registering a licence for the sole purpose of transferring the licence to another Person.

NOTE: For example:

• Affiliate websites where a domain name is chosen and developed as a keyword for websites and advertisements;
• Pay-per-click websites where revenue is earned through the use of proprietary advertising systems;
• Domain parking where advertising is published on the parked domain name;

Thanks for the response.

I agree with your logic up until 2.4.4 (2) (f) i.

However, if you read the above carefully: the domain name applied for must be a match or synonym of the name of a service that the Person provides.

In the licensing rules, they define Match as:
Match means that the domain name being applied for is identical to one, some or all of words or numbers used in the Person’s legal name, business name or Australian Trade Mark. The domain name must use the words or numbers in the same order as they appear in the Person’s legal name, business name or Australian Trade Mark and must not include any additional words or numbers.
NOTE: A Person with a business name ‘Forexample Publishing’ would be able to register forexample, forexamplepublishing, forexample-publishing, and publishing as domain names.

Remember, they said that the domain name must be a match of the name of the service. What is the name of the service? If the name of the service is 'flower advertising referrer', than my interpretation is that the only names that one can own are: flower.com.au, advertising.com.au, referrer.com.au, floweradvertising.com.au, advertisingreferrer.com.au, etc. etc. You could not own a name that was generally connected to flowers, but did not match (or be a synonym of), the name of the service. As such, the synonym point can only refer to generic dictionary terms, as these are the only ones that are in a thesaurus. I do not see under the new rules how someone could get away with owning flowersgalore.com.au, even if they are a monetisation referrer to flower shops.

I sincerely hope that I am wrong about this or these new changes will have a huge and detrimental impact to domaining and the Australian business landscape. Image a flower shop who's business name is Flower One Pty Ltd who wants to operate under the domain name flowersgalore.com.au. How under the new rules are they in compliance? flowersgalore is not identical to one, some or all of the words of Flower One. It is not saying that one, some or all of the words of the domain name, need to match one, some or all of the words of the business name or service? If it did, I would not see a concern.

I am probably missing something major here, but no one has been able to point me to anything that allays these concerns.

 

[Scott.L]

Does anyone have a large .com.au portfolio (i.e. well over 100 names) and has been reviewed for compliance by auDA and 1) had to delete all or most of their names for non-compliance, or 2) was able to prove that your portfolio was in compliance?
If so, what are the best methods to ensure protection of your portfolio? What is the best rationale for holding a large portfolio of names e.g. operating a branding agency? Or is it complete luck of the draw?
I am sitting on a large portfolio and for obvious reasons would like to protect it. Any insight would be appreciated.

in simple terms - you can register unlimited domain names for the sole purpose of selling those domain names. (I'm sure you can prove that)

Thanks for the response.

I agree with your logic up until 2.4.4 (2) (f) i.

However, if you read the above carefully: the domain name applied for must be a match or synonym of the name of a service that the Person provides.

In the licensing rules, they define Match as:
Match means that the domain name being applied for is identical to one, some or all of words or numbers used in the Person’s legal name, business name or Australian Trade Mark. The domain name must use the words or numbers in the same order as they appear in the Person’s legal name, business name or Australian Trade Mark and must not include any additional words or numbers.
NOTE: A Person with a business name ‘Forexample Publishing’ would be able to register forexample, forexamplepublishing, forexample-publishing, and publishing as domain names.

Remember, they said that the domain name must be a match of the name of the service. What is the name of the service? If the name of the service is 'flower advertising referrer', than my interpretation is that the only names that one can own are: flower.com.au, advertising.com.au, referrer.com.au, floweradvertising.com.au, advertisingreferrer.com.au, etc. etc. You could not own a name that was generally connected to flowers, but did not match (or be a synonym of), the name of the service. As such, the synonym point can only refer to generic dictionary terms, as these are the only ones that are in a thesaurus. I do not see under the new rules how someone could get away with owning flowersgalore.com.au, even if they are a monetisation referrer to flower shops.

I sincerely hope that I am wrong about this or these new changes will have a huge and detrimental affect to domaining and the Australian business landscape. Image a flower shop who's business name is Flower One Pty Ltd who wants to operate under the domain name flowersgalore.com.au. How under the new rules are they in compliance? flowersgalore is not identical to one, some or all of the words of Flower One. It is not saying that one, some or all of the words of the domain name, need to match one, some or all of the words of the business name or service? If it did, I would not see a concern.

I am probably missing something major here, but no one has been able to point me to anything that allays these concerns.

As eBranding noted in a previous post - Monetisation is no longer an explicit component of eligibility, it's now simply one of many activities that could fall under aspects of the eligibility rules. For example, monetisation would typically come under "a service that the Person provides".

For example: The Product/ Service you provide is selling aftermarket domains - well, under monetisation, you can register unlimited amount of domain names and warehouse them for the purpose of resale. The product/ service you provide is the domain and the service you provide is the transfer of that domain to another party.

I can buy whatever domain name i want - a brand agency is required to have some brand names up for grabs to attract customers, right. Therefore, you can act as an agent on my behalf and sell my domains, or sell your own, regardless of the keyword relevancy to your own company name. Its just your stock and trade.

 

[Scott.L]

Ex: Company name is 1234 Pty LTD - registers the domain name: www. dontworry. com.au decides to park that name with links to counselling services

the phrase is a synonym for anxiety, which directly relates to the treatment of anxiety. Well. it has nothing to do with the company name and everything to do with the "service the Website Provides" therefore, the domain name is compliant with the licencing rules.

 

[Scott.L]

Thanks for the response.
Just want to try and clarify this further.
Just taking the example of .com.au domains here...
Assume that one is present in Australia and is a corporate entity - so those two boxes are ticked.

Now lets say that I hypothetically buy a new domain name under the new policy, when in effect, let's call it flowersgalore.com.au. As soon as I buy the name I park it at Uniregistry, which shows relevant ads related to flowers.
Is the argument of eligibility made that I, the owner of flowersgalore.com.au, are providing a service as a referral partner to companies that sell flowers?

The new rule states that the domain name must be a match* or synonym of a service that the Person provides.

'Match means that the domain name being applied for is identical to one, some or all of words or numbers used in the Person’s legal name, business name or Australian Trade Mark. The domain name must use the words or numbers in the same order as they appear in the Person’s legal name, business name or Australian Trade Mark and must not include any additional words or numbers.', which seems to only call out legal names, business names or TMs, not the name of the service itself. But will ignore that for now.

Anyways...are we essentially saying that we are in compliance because we are providing a service, lets call it 'flower advertising referrer', and the name flowergalore.com.au is in compliance because the word flower is identical to one word of the service being provided?

Because to me, the term 'flowergalore' is not identical to one, some or all of the words of the name of the service that I am providing i.e. 'flower advertising referrer'. The term galore makes the name something else. As such, are only one word terms that can be referenced to a dictionary or thesaurus safe?

Or do I have this completely backwards?

Any clarity on this or another illustrative example would be GREATLY appreciated.

Thanks

a flower shop can register - www. machineparts4cars.com.au and park the page with links to wreckers and the flower shop will not be breaking any rules.

 

[brandpluck]

a flower shop can register - www. machineparts4cars.com.au and park the page with links to wreckers and the flower shop will not be breaking any rules.

Ok, so the flower shop is performing a service. The service is 'wreckers advertising referrer' (or similar). How is 'wreckers advertising referrer' a match (as defined in the new licencing rules) to the name machineparts4cars?
I understand that a business can be eligible for a name by virtue of the fact that they are performing a service. However, the name of the service needs to match or be a synonym of the domain name, which your example is not. It is this latter part that I am referring to.