Afilias chosen as new .au registry operator

[Cheyne]

No, I just can't imagine them raising fees. They should be reducing their fees, because they've been stacking cash in bank for years with no purpose (now $16million according to their latest annual report).

If I were you, I would have a good read of their DOCA response that was slipped out prior to the registry announcement yesterday, noting point 3.4 in particular.

Under the heading Inability to Borrow Funds, according to them, they only hold enough cash for 1.5 years of operating costs and they believe this is insufficient.

So a curious mind has to ask the obvious question... where is the money going to come from? Is this their way of putting their hand out to the Government? Or is it the justification for increasing their fee? Time will tell I guess.

But I strongly recommend everybody have a good read of that document because there are some absolute gems in there!

 

[snoopy]

If I were you, I would have a good read of their DOCA response that was slipped out prior to the registry announcement yesterday, noting point 3.4 in particular.

Under the heading Inability to Borrow Funds, according to them, they only hold enough cash for 1.5 years of operating costs and they believe this is insufficient.

So a curious mind has to ask the obvious question... where is the money going to come from? Is this their way of putting their hand out to the Government? Or is it the justification for increasing their fee? Time will tell I guess.

But I strongly recommend everybody have a good read of that document because there are some absolute gems in there!

I wonder why a not for profit government endorsed body needs to borrow funds? Is this about dreams of running the registry again? I wonder what are the "key strategic decisions as exercised by other ccTLDs".

The "complex legal case" is of high risk because of the direct registration proposal (e.g. a class action), but it doesn't matter much if they had $16million or $60million in the bank in my view because the damages would be higher than that if they lost the case.

 

[Lemon]

But I strongly recommend everybody have a good read of that document because there are some absolute gems in there!

Reading and comprehension are different skill sets.

 

[Lemon]

I personally feel for the smaller registrars who will now need to invest a significant amount of money to connect to a new registrar, and I suspect some may turn in their accreditation as a result.

If any are looking to sell then I know of people who are looking to invest.

 

[DomainNames]

If I were you, I would have a good read of their DOCA response that was slipped out prior to the registry announcement yesterday, noting point 3.4 in particular.

Under the heading Inability to Borrow Funds, according to them, they only hold enough cash for 1.5 years of operating costs and they believe this is insufficient.

So a curious mind has to ask the obvious question... where is the money going to come from? Is this their way of putting their hand out to the Government? Or is it the justification for increasing their fee? Time will tell I guess.

But I strongly recommend everybody have a good read of that document because there are some absolute gems in there!

Can you list the absolute gems and your feedback on them?

 

[DomainNames]

This change is not likely to get consumers better pricing. In fact the pricing is likely to go up as a result.

The cost to registrars to make this change is substantial and given the time frame to do this will be even harder to get done. So these costs need to be passed onto the consumer. So expect higher prices as a result.

Please list the new auDA and Afilias .au wholesale pricing so we can confirm your statement is factual.

 

[DomainNames]

We shall see, all I am saying that with most staff away from now till mid Jan, only leaves a few month to do a lot of work and work that we will never be able to recoup, so for registrars, this is bad news.

The new Wholesale Registry start date is over 6 months away...July 1st 2018 That seems to be more than amble time considering it has been known by everyone this was the time frame for the new contract to start no matter who won it.

There was always the chance of a new wholesale registry provider winning I am sure some will take up the opportunity quickly and be ready well before 6 months time.

 

[snoopy]

It is certainly a strange situation that pricing wouldn't be announced at the same time as the winning tenderer.

 

[DomainNames]

Have you seen something which explicitly says that auDA will not be raising their fee? If so, please point me to it because I definitely have not. And "likely" is a very loose term, and they would say "likely" because if this were to become the case their response will be "well, we put our fee down".

If auDA have a plan that says they want to make X more money because they intend to invest Y in marketing .au, then that might pass the pub test, but I'm not sure what else they could pull out to justify it. I guess we'll find out more on Thursday.



Yes, but I don't think the discounts are going to change. That's what I am trying to say.



Again, I'm not sure how this helps.

If Afilias are doing it cheaper then costs will need to be cut somewhere. Let's just hope it's not the quality or reliability of the registry that suffers as a result.

Afilias is already a solid provider globally. I would not be wasting time second guessing their ability to do this job quickly and securely.

If auDA did not negotiate a lower wholesale price than auDA will be the ones in trouble.

Massive profits have been made by Ausregistry and auDA from the .au wholesale pricing. This is fact. Fat can be cut out of the wholesale pricing.

The wholesale price better come down or consumer action ( Registrars, Resellers .au domain name registrants) will occur this time and auDA may find themselves without their role as .au management all together..

It will not be a surprise if other new organisation proposals get to government to take over the .au management from auDA if this does not give benefits to lower wholesale pricing. This was specified as being important that a reduction occurred.

auDA needs to also cut its spending far more and lower their share of the .au wholesale price pie. Plus what is happening with the auDA Foundation money $$$ ? If they can't we need a new CEO.

 

[snoopy]

Hopefully when pricing comes out they will have removed the AUDA foundation contribution.

 

[Lemon]

Hopefully when pricing comes out they will have removed the AUDA foundation contribution.

So what you are saying is that a NFP should not give back to the community.
Personally I think it should be increased.

 

[Lemon]

Please list the new auDA and Afilias .au wholesale pricing so we can confirm your statement is factual.

If you were a registrar you would know the wholesale price. You are not.
Does Safeway or Coles tell the customer the wholesale price of tomatoes or apples?
Yes we paid $1 a kg but we are charging you $4.50.
When you sell a domain for $1000 do you tell the buyer you only paid $22?
IMO it is a mistake for auDA to publicly announce wholesale pricing.

 

[DomainNames]

If you were a registrar you would know the wholesale price. You are not.
Does Safeway or Coles tell the customer the wholesale price of tomatoes or apples?
Yes we paid $1 a kg but we are charging you $4.50.
When you sell a domain for $1000 do you tell the buyer you only paid $22?
IMO it is a mistake for auDA to publicly announce wholesale pricing.

https://www.auda.org.au/news/auda-extends-ausregistrys-au-registry-term-to-2014/
Posted by Jo Lim on 26 February 2009
new pricing that sees a drop in the AusRegistry wholesale price to $14 (for a 2 year licence) for com.au and net.au domains and further drops as volumes increase"



https://www.auda.org.au/about-auda/...15/8-october-2015-auda-board-meeting-minutes/
"S Johnson raised a question regarding competition law and the possible perception of a cartel,"



https://www.auda.org.au/about-auda/our-org/constitution/
3.2 Activities
Without reducing the effect of clause 4, auDA will see to achieve its principal purposes as set out in clause 3.1 through:
b. establishing mechanisms to ensure it is responsive and accountable to the supply and demand sides of the Australian Internet Community;
c. the promotion of competition in the provision of domain name services;
d. the promotion of fair trading;
e. the promotion of consumer protection;
f. adopting open and transparent procedures which are inclusive of all parties having an interest in use of the domain name system in Australia;
g. ensuring its operations produce timely outputs which are relevant to the needs of the Australian Internet Community.
(Amended by Special Resolution, 14 August 2006)

​

https://halson.com.au/
"Greater transparency and accountability."

 

[DomainNames]

So what you are saying is that a NFP should not give back to the community.
Personally I think it should be increased.

Are you aware of the issues the auDA Foundation has had?

 

[JackBeNimble]

https://www.auda.org.au/news/auda-extends-ausregistrys-au-registry-term-to-2014/
Posted by Jo Lim on 26 February 2009
new pricing that sees a drop in the AusRegistry wholesale price to $14 (for a 2 year licence) for com.au and net.au domains and further drops as volumes increase"

8 years ago.
The price of electricity alone over the past 8 years more than justifies the price staying the same.

Also, it's $7 a year.

Also, NFP doesn't mean no money in a bank.

 

[snoopy]

So what you are saying is that a NFP should not give back to the community.
Personally I think it should be increased.

Do you think the AUDA foundation has done a good job with the money?

Why won't AUDA release the PPB report?

 

[snoopy]

8 years ago.
The price of electricity alone over the past 8 years more than justifies the price staying the same.

Also, it's $7 a year.

Also, NFP doesn't mean no money in a bank.

When AUDA does come out with the price it is going to be interesting to see if all these similar supply side assessments were accurate or not.

 

[DomainNames]

auDA has $16 million in the bank
Problems with auDA and auDA Foundation finances
Questions about "Cartel" behaviour...

I would be very careful defending pricing or discussing price signalling etc if I was anyone at auDA or in Supply.

The ACCC are going to be doing a major investigation of auDA and they are already now reading forum posts where pricing is being discussed!

https://www.accc.gov.au/business/anti-competitive-behaviour/cartels
https://www.accc.gov.au/business/anti-competitive-behaviour/anti-competitive-conduct
https://www.accc.gov.au/business/anti-competitive-behaviour/collective-bargaining-boycotts
https://www.accc.gov.au/business/anti-competitive-behaviour/imposing-minimum-resale-prices
https://www.accc.gov.au/business/anti-competitive-behaviour/misuse-of-market-power
https://www.accc.gov.au/business/anti-competitive-behaviour/unconscionable-conduct

 

[Lemon]

Do you think the AUDA foundation has done a good job with the money?

I think giving back to the community is an important part of a NFP.
Looking at the recipients of grants from the auDA Foundation do you think any are not worthy?
https://www.audafoundation.org.au/grant-recipients/

Perhaps the Australian Domainers Association should apply.

 

[Lemon]

auDA has $16 million in the bank
Problems with auDA and auDA Foundation finances
Questions about "Cartel" behaviour...

I would be very careful defending pricing or discussing price signalling etc if I was anyone at auDA or in Supply.

The ACCC are going to be doing a major investigation of auDA and they are already now reading forum posts where pricing is being discussed!

https://www.accc.gov.au/business/anti-competitive-behaviour/cartels
https://www.accc.gov.au/business/anti-competitive-behaviour/anti-competitive-conduct
https://www.accc.gov.au/business/anti-competitive-behaviour/collective-bargaining-boycotts
https://www.accc.gov.au/business/anti-competitive-behaviour/imposing-minimum-resale-prices
https://www.accc.gov.au/business/anti-competitive-behaviour/misuse-of-market-power
https://www.accc.gov.au/business/anti-competitive-behaviour/unconscionable-conduct

What are you talking about Sean.
The Registry sets a wholesale price.
Registrars set their own retail price.
The consumer has a choice of where to buy.
How is that anti competitive?