auDA Media Release: Should .au be opened up for direct registration?

[findtim]

Rhythm, still not good solutions in my view
Ned, yep, i think any domain name owner that is a member of auda or anyone else that views dnt knows we are a long way off a decision, shame the other 3 million + domain name owners haven't got a clue !
and whilst it is a "long way off" a good debate is healthy even though there are very few people willing to state an opinion !
it reminds me of selling foxtel "door to door" in the EARLY days, nobody had it, nobody knew about it and we had a formula which was, knock 100 doors, only six people would listen to you and only 1 would buy.
same with this, 3 million domain owners, only 100+ members/people who know about it and only 3+ people talking about it.
the pitiful amount of submissions is testimony to this + the effort some people took by giving mostly yes / no answers .
tim

 

[Horshack]

Hi Ned, I think the difference to .uk is that .co.uk was the only non-restricted registration option available whereas in this case we have .com.au/.net.au available for registration on level terms so can you really give preference to the .com.au holder. It will be interesting to see how this all ends up.

 

[findtim]

on level terms so can you really give preference

i'm guessing you meant "can not" ?
tim

 

[elbranch]

.com.au and .net.au are not equivalent.

The reason people own a .com.au is because it was available.

The reason people own a .net.au is because the .com.au was not available.

People have purchased a .com.au on the basis that they are obtaining the most prestigious domain name in the .au space.

People have purchased a .net.au because the .com.au is not available and they are buying the .net.au on the basis that they are obtaining the secondary domain name in the .au space which will be forever haunted by the existence of the .com.au which they have been unable to purchase.

It has been said in the past that a popular or promoted .net.au is an advertisement for the .com.au (never the other way around).

.net.au domains were introduced for networking/internet related purposes (not commercial) and used to be free (which might not be so relevant now but it's an interesting back story).

.net.au owners have already indicated through their purchase of a .net.au that they are satisfied with second best, why should that change?

 

[Horshack]

You assume that the .com.au is already registered and I must have missed the notice at a registry telling me that .com.au is more prestigious than .net.au because all I can see is a choice to register one or the other or both on equal terms and for similar amounts. This paragraph from the ausregistry website states without any doubt that they are considered equal:
What is .com.au and .net.au?
A .com.au and .net.au name is the preferred option for Australian businesses when registering a Domain Name.
Today there are more choices for your business than ever before. Take the time to discover the different options available to your business in the .com.au and .net.au Top Level Domains.
Quite simply a .com.au and .net.au Domain Name is the best way for Australian businesses to be represented on the web! .com.au and .net.au Domain Names offer instant recognition in the corporate world.
Is there any distinction between a .com.au and .net.au Domain Name? Do they mean different things for my business?
There is no real distinction between a .com.au and a .net.au Domain Name. The policy determining eligibility for both names is identical. Previously .net.au was recommended for Information Technology businesses; this can still apply. For instance, if your business has a technical component you may choose to register a separate technical Domain Name in the .net.au namespace.

Some businesses may choose to register a .net.au Domain Name if the .com.au version of their name is unavailable and vice versa.

 

[findtim]

.net.au owners have already indicated through their purchase of a .net.au that they are satisfied with second best, why should that change?

elbranch , a great sentence which sums it all up IMO.
horshack, you must own a lot of .net.au's ?

This paragraph from the ausregistry website states without any doubt that they are considered equal

of course they will say this and you are suggesting that this is a FACT, ummmm, no, it is propaganda because they really do not care what you register, its salemanship " ohh .com.au taken...... thats ok, BUY the .net.au "

The policy determining eligibility for both names is identical

big WHOOP, they are playing the average JOE for a fool and just NOTE i'm not attacking ausregistry as everyone does it, resellers etc.

the reality is that if you purchased a .net.au then you bought a lemon, you came LATE to the party so don't expect the good food to still be on the table AND don't try and eat what is on my plate.
this includes quality .net.au's like creditcards , you are still 2nd best.

i think there is a law that says " not knowing the law is now excuse " , so if you don't know that a .com.au is dropping and you own the .net.au and thus the .com.au gets picked up then TOUGH. ( i know this is gonna come back and bite me LOL )
tim

 

[Horshack]

Hi Tim,
I only hold 3 .net.au's where I don't hold the .com.au also. I wonder if there is going to be a rush on .net.au's for people to protect their positions or perhaps people taking a bargaining position on some big money names? It appears that the NZDNC announced some cut-off dates for eligibility to protect against any profiteering from people taking a late position and I expect to see the same in the .au space.

 

[elbranch]

You assume that the .com.au is already registered and I must have missed the notice at a registry telling me that .com.au is more prestigious

Total red herring prestige is not conferred by auDA but if you really want we can send anonymous emails to registrars saying we are newbies and asking is it better for our business to register a .com.au or a .net.au. What do you think the response will be?

Given your logic, University of Melbourne is not more prestigious than Central Queensland University because you checked both the Universities Australia website and the Tertiary Education Quality Standards Agency website and neither of them mentioned anything about University of Melbourne being more prestigious so therefore it isn't (at least you will save a lot of money and your children won't have to work too hard when you send them to Central Queensland University).

Is there any distinction between a .com.au and .net.au Domain Name? Do they mean different things for my business?There is no real distinction between a .com.au and a .net.au Domain Name.

They didn't say there is "no distinction" between a .com.au and a .net.au they said there is no "real" distinction between them which is legal jargon for their actually being a distinction between them. And what is the distinction?

Previously .net.au was recommended for Information Technology businesses; this can still apply. For instance, if your business has a technical component you may choose to register a separate technical Domain Name in the .net.au namespace.

Oh dear you might have shot yourself in the foot here, but thanks for bringing this to my attention. They are admitting that .net.au is more suited for information technology and that a business with a 'technical component' might register a .net.au (or otherwise just register the .com.au)

Some businesses may choose to register a .net.au Domain Name if the .com.au version of their name is unavailable and vice versa.

I am not sure what you are trying to say here but do you realise that with your vice versa you are saying that some people might choose to register a .com.au because the .net.au is unavailable? Are you serious? How many cases do you think this would occur in say every 100,000 .com.au registrations? But even so, I can't understand your argument. If someone has purchased a .net.au in preference to the .com.au version then they can keep using it. They have got what they wanted why should they want to change?

 

[elbranch]

I wonder if there is going to be a rush on .net.au's for people to protect their positions or perhaps people taking a bargaining position on some big money names? It appears that the NZDNC announced some cut-off dates for eligibility to protect against any profiteering from people taking a late position and I expect to see the same in the .au space.

I don't know why you are assuming there will be a change and the form that change will take as you seem to be assuming that there will be an auction between different parties who might possibly stake a claim on the name.au even though this has not occurred in either the UK or NZ spheres.

However, I do agree with your fears that any auction is just an open invitation for backroom deals such as whispers coming out of auDA to friendly dntraders about 1/ the auction option being selected and 2/ the cut-off date for registrations and then anything is possible such as the purchase of .net.au's as proxies for multinationals.

Even without this, an auction process will automatically lead to all .net.au holders having the opportunity to sell their right to bid on the name.au.

This is a separate issue, but auDA management must be replaced if the auction option is selected because there should be no possibility that the option which stands to benefit them the most, with a possible enormous benefit, is the one chosen, especially after staking their whole existence for so long on doing things differently to what has been done in UK and NZ.

 

[Horshack]

Sorry Elbranch but I'm from Perth and I have no idea about the prestige of east coast universities. I can't see anything in the statement "Is there any distinction between a .com.au and .net.au Domain Name? Do they mean different things for my business?There is no real distinction between a .com.au and a .net.au Domain Name." that might confer any preference to the .com.au holder if a shorter name was available. I can however see the possibilty of 300k annoyed .net.au holders putting a dampener on proceedings. Furthermore, I don't see an auction taking place but some money may change hands where the registration is conflicted and one holder is determined to get their hands on the shorter registration rather than see it unavailable altogether as I believe has been the course of action in NZ. If the auction route is taken it would be interesting viewing though. Get your popcorn ready!

 

[neddy]

Guys, (elbranch and Horshack) - did you both put submissions in to auDA? It is good to see passionate discussion!

As I've mentioned earlier in this thread, it is early days in the deliberation process. Loads of options on the table - and sensible people on the Names Panel who will work through these. If there is then a consensus view that some sort of change should be made (or even no change), a further Public Consultation will happen with a range of options to comment on.

So until then, my advice would be to relax. Save your popcorn until September.

Cheers, Ned

 

[snoopy]

I can however see the possibilty of 300k annoyed .net.au holders putting a dampener on proceedings. Furthermore, I don't see an auction taking place but some money may change hands where the registration is conflicted and one holder is determined to get their hands on the shorter registration rather than see it unavailable altogether as I believe has been the course of action in NZ. If the auction route is taken it would be interesting viewing though. Get your popcorn ready!

I wonder if AUDA said, ".com.au will get preference" if the majority of .net.au owners are really going to care. Just the fact that they are using the domain suggests to me they aren't that fussed about domains and probably have no budget for domains either.

I think the most obvious group to complain would be domainers who hope to get a big upgrade by owning a .net.au.

 

[Data Glasses]

Ho Hum ....... Dot StKilda and so on ....

 

[Rhythm]

They didn't say there is "no distinction" between a .com.au and a .net.au they said there is no "real" distinction between them which is legal jargon for their actually being a distinction between them. And what is the distinction?

Imaginary.

 

[DomainNames]

Here's a question:
Do you 'expect' to see the same business appear when direct navigating/searching?
Shoes.uk v shoes.co.uk
Shirts.nz v shirts.co.nz?
And assume they are the same business entity?
The namespace is changing and ppls mindset is changing.. Is consumer confusion the same today, as it was say 3-5yrs ago? I wonder..

Just putting it out there..

I you had spent $thousands on Shoes.co.uk developing it, branding it for your business, advertising it would you like a direct competitor then starting Shoes.uk?

The more extensions that people try to make people buy the more confused the market and internet users become.

We all saw it with the past scare campaigns like this for example " secure and register a .biz .com .net.au .net, .sydney .hotel .travel dot everything" to protect your branding. https://www.onlydomains.com/domains/new Are all these extensions needed? No.. are they heavily promoted as being needed Yes.

 

[DomainNames]

Yes there are now Thousands of extensions people are flogging. . why? more $$$$. They are in the business of generating income and if they can get this all the better for them
1. New domain extension registration fee
2 New domain name renewal income
3. COR Change of Registrant costs and fees

"NEW DOMAIN EXTENSIONS
GET YOURS BEFORE SOMEONE ELSE DOES"
https://www.onlydomains.com/domains/new..

 

[DomainNames]

https://www.onlydomains.com/domains/new
"Remember when the domain name Beer.com sold for $7 million dollars? For the first time since the dawn of the Internet, people everywhere have an opportunity to claim ownership of a whole new range of top level domain web addresses. Domains like .App, .Venture, and even .Sex are coming soon. How much will yours be worth? Register one today and find out!"

 

[Lemon]

I imagine someone like crcket australia who purchased cricket.com.au for $100,000 and then spent vastly more on promoting the name and brand would not be very excited at the prospect of losing out on cricket.au because a net.au owner has an option on the .au version. Secondly the prospect of going into a bidding war just to protect their brand would not appeal to them and why would they have to spend more money.

With so much investment by big businesses and brands in .com.au I wouldn't be surprised to see some legal wranglings going on to ensure that their brands are protected with minimum cost. Obviously the only beneficiaries to an auction are auDA and the only losers are existing name holders.

auDA could simply decide to give the names to .com.au holders and charge an initial registration fee of say $100 for admin costs and then they instantly gain $100 x 2514330 or $251 million dollars (less expenses of course). No real need to be greedy and cause confusion in the market.

Lemon

 

[DomainNames]

How about the financial incentive is taken out of it completely and this will see a lot less push, marketing, promoting, twitter, blog campains currently being run to bring in the change?

Auda is supposed to be a Not for Profit and as much as its great they give away money from registrants registration, renewal and COR fees the less fees the better.

If you got given an extra $1 million or $60 million a year you could find a way to spend it!

Here is one way to do it if people are not truly just after the $$$
_________________________________

PRESS RELEASE/ TWITTER / BLOG/ EMAIL/ MEMBER NEWSLETTER

FREE.AU FOR .COM.AU REGISTRANTS

FREE .AU- If you currently hold a .com.au name you can claim your 100% free correlating same name as a .Au. YES for example if you own Cricket.com.au you can now claim Cricket.au also. NO COST EVER

YES you heard it. FREE. No registration cost, No renewal cost for the period you have your .com.au AND if you sell your ,com,au your .au goes with the .com.au

As an added bonus. From 23 August there will be a $10 reduction in wholesale domain registry prices

And another bonus.. when you sell your .com.au name you no longer need to pay a COR Change of registrant fee or new registration! Yes you heard it FREE COR and NO NEW REGISTRATION REQUIRED.... the period you have left on your license is transferred to the new registrant at NO COST to Buyer or Seller. Fair is Fair

We listened to the feedback of the 3 million existing .com.au registrants we contacted outlining all the facts of a new .au and how it could affect them and we understood their concerns about more costs, legal disputes, loss of IP and business branding so we have acted in your interest and will not charge any costs for this additional .Au we proposed to make available

We care for you and we care for all existing .Com.au registrants. We are a Not for Profit and we want to protect the value that the .com.au has in Australia and globally.We also know that by introducing a .AU it could cause widespread confusion that our own marketing could not solve so we recommend all .Com.au registrants when they get their new .Au just URL forward the .Au extension to their existing .Com.au

 

[elbranch]

I imagine someone like crcket australia who purchased cricket.com.au for $100,000 and then spent vastly more on promoting the name and brand would not be very excited at the prospect of losing out on cricket.au because a net.au owner has an option on the .au version. Secondly the prospect of going into a bidding war just to protect their brand would not appeal to them and why would they have to spend more money.

Not only that, but as I have pointed out auDA itself auctioned off generic .com.au domain names, some of which sold in the tens of thousands of dollars, while the .net.au versions were available for hand registration. Now auDA is preparing for those .com.au owners to pay again to protect their investment by bidding or otherwise competing against the .net.au owners, who paid $20 for their domain name, for the new premium Australian domain name extension which will replace .com.au.

auDA could simply decide to give the names to .com.au holders and charge an initial registration fee of say $100 for admin costs and then they instantly gain $100 x 2514330 or $251 million dollars (less expenses of course). No real need to be greedy and cause confusion in the market.

Reasonable suggestion, but how do auDA personnel obtain an economic benefit if this got up? Management could pay itself a big bonus but what of the board members? There would be nothing for them. It is important to understand that this is all about the personal economic benefit of people associated with auDA it is not about what is best for the industry and the owners of three million domain names. The only demand for this change has come from auDA and associated parasites who will obtain an economic benefit from the change, there has been no demand for this change from outside auDA.