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Australia's Direct .AU Domain Name Implementation Plan

Thank you for visiting Vote Australia!

You are here to have a say about the domain name licensing rules proposed by the .au Domain Administrator (auDA). In consideration of its release, your right to register the exact matching domain in the soon to be released direct registration of .au won’t be straightforward.

The team at Vote Australia decided to action a commitment on behalf of the Australian Internet Community to facilitate awareness of important key issues identified in the proposed licencing rules.

For your convenience, we provide you with a letter of response on your behalf that we believe to be beneficial to your interests, and to the interest of the broader internet community at large. We hope you can take this time to read it and agree with its point of view.

Once you agree, your shared view will be sent directly to the .au Domain Administration (auDA) as part of the final consultation assessment into the proposed licensing rules for .au direct registration.

IT'S TIME TO HAVE YOUR SAY!

THE DEADLINE IS THIS FRIDAY 10th MAY!

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PLEASE READ THE LETTER BELOW, and if you agree with it,

click on the SUBMIT VOTE button at the bottom!

  • .au Domain Administration Limited
    ABN 38 079 009 340
    PO Box 18315
    Melbourne VIC 3001

    By email to: policies@auda.org.au

    Dear auDA,

    RE: auDA Management Response to Policy Review Panel Final Report and Implementation Plan for Direct Registration

    auDA Management Response to Policy Review Panel Final Report

    In April this year, the au Domain Administration formally responded to the Policy Review Panel Final Report.

    In consideration of auDA Management response, I support the findings and determinations made by auDA. My only exception is the indefinite time frame to resolve the application rights for direct registration between conflicted parties with an exact match domain.

    Retrospectively, I appreciate all the hard work, effort, and due diligence undertaken by auDA which brought about a fair and reasonable outcome for the Australian Internet Community.

    Implementation Plan for Direct Registration

    I am aware, the .au Domain Administration intends to launch direct registration in the .au namespace. This means I will be able to register domain names in .au directly (such as example.au opposed to example.com.au).

    Under the proposed eligibility rules, my domain names are categorised by a cut-off date which is the 4 February 2018. This means, Category 1 for prior and Category 2 for post.

    In this regard, there are two separate application procedures.

    Category 1

    Applications

    auDA will require me to make the application to my Registrar by or on: 1 April 2020 whereby, auDA will require that I must pay an annual application renewal fee. Should I fail to pay this annual application renewal fee my domain name will automatically lapse. I believe, I should not be charged annually for a product I cannot use or may not possibly receive; I believe it should be free.

    Fees
    I note auDA did not publicly disclosed the annual renewal fee. As a result, I disagree with this policy provision because it is unclear how much auDA will charge me.

    Application Transfers
    After making my application, I will not be able to update or change my application information, and I cannot transfer the eligible licence to another Person during the Application Period;

    I disagree with this policy provision; I should be allowed to transfer the application for the eligible exact matching domain to anyone under any circumstance, for example, a buyer interested in purchasing my domain name should receive the application rights, or in the event of a company restructure, merger, or liquidation they should also receive the application rights.

    Category 2

    Applications
    auDA will require me to make the application to my Registrar by or on: 1 August 2020, and If there are multiple Persons with an eligible licence of the same domain name as mine, then the Person who registered it first gets the prize.

    I disagree with this policy provision; I should have equal opportunity to receive the exact matching domain irrespective of the age of my domain name.

    Third Party Use
    A Person must not rent, lease, sub-licence or permit the use of the licence by another Person, unless that Person is a related body corporate with an Australian presence.

    I should be allowed to give any person(s) an opportunity to buy my domain name using; a payment plan, lease option, hire option, rental plan, or sub-licencing agreement. Also, business owners may choose to use Premium Domain Names for a set period of time for promotions, product launches, or special events as an alternative to their main brand name or website.

    Furthermore, Page 6 of the new LICENSING RULES accepted the legitimacy of domain monetisation and provided a definition of monetisation which included; (4) Domain leasing where the domain name is rented to advertisers or other interested parties.

    In conclusion
    Undertaking a conflicted name auction may not resolve the problem of allocation. It will feel unfair to possibly lose my exact matching domain name to a new competitor created in this new ‘commercial namespace’. Also, it’s irresponsible for the Domain Administrator to profit from a policy which brought about conflicted parties in the first place.

    Accordingly, The Government Review recommends, auDA continue to operate as a not-for-profit entity and does not seek to maximise profit. Also RFC 1591 affirms, Concerns about "rights" and "ownership" of domains are inappropriate. It is appropriate to be concerned about "responsibilities" and "service" to the community.

    The views, opinions, and statements used in this public submission assert an opinion shared by myself as a representative of the Australian Internet Community.

    By submitting this electronic letter to auDA, I agree with it.

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