Meeting - April 10th 2001
Internet Domain Name Futures
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New domain name rules still a way off for Australia
(eCommerce Report vol 8 no 7)
New Australian domain names and rules are unlikely to be introduced soon.   
Speaking at last months Victorian eCommerce Network meeting in Melbourne Chris Disspain, chief executive of the Australian Domain Administration Ltd (auDA) said that whilst the Domain Names panel set up by auDA has finalised its report, its recommendations would not be considered until the next auDA board meeting in May.
And he said its recommendations will be implemented at the same time as those flowing from the competition panel, which is not expected to be until be in the second half of this year. 
Under those circumstances there was little that Disspain could tell the meeting about the likely new rules, although it appears that many of the changes recommended by the Names panel will be accepted. 
Some of these recommendations were outlined in a statement released by auDA on 12th of April following its board meeting on the 9th of April.
The statement says that changes to domain name policies recommended include: 
  • no limit on the number of domain names per entity; 
  • a renewal period for all domain names; 
  • inclusion of trade marks as eligibility criteria for a domain name; 
  • a close and substantial connection between a domain name and its licensee; 
  • creation of a 'reserved list' for domain names that may not be licensed. 

The report also recommends that domain names continue to be allocated on a 'first come, first served' basis so that, provided the relevant eligibility criteria are satisfied, the first person to apply for a particular domain name will be allowed to license it.
 "The Panel's final report is the result of two rounds of public consultation. The Panel is confident that its recommendations reflect community views about who should be eligible to hold a domain name, and the type of domain name they can have," said Panel Chair, Derek Whitehead. 
"auDA would like to thank Derek Whitehead and the Panel for their hard work and commitment to the policy review process over the past nine months," said auDA Board Co- Chair, Greg Watson. 
AuDA's statement also noted that the terms of reference for the Names panel did not specifically cover the proposed introduction of new second level domains. So the Panel has not been disbanded and instead has had its terms of reference extended to address the possible creation of new second level domains (2LDs), in a public discussion paper scheduled for release in May.

Speakers
  • Dr Bruce Tonkin, Chief Technology Officer,Melbourne IT (www.MelbourneIT.com.au)
  • Chris Disspain, Chief Executive Officer,  au Domain Administration Ltd. (www.auDA.org.au)
  • Michelle Scott, Manager - OnLine Regulation , National Office For the Information Economy (www.noie.gov.au)

Disspain told the VeCN meeting that new domain options for individual's domain names and geographic place names were both likely to be explored by the panel in its May report. 
He said that the current id.au domain for individuals was hardly used at all and that restrictions on geographic names for dot.com.au were particularly problematic with even a large company like Mayne Nickless striking problems. "There's a little town called Mayne in Queensland and so Mayne Nickless can't register Mayne.com.au" he said. Disspain also talked about the difficulties faced by businesses who are in dispute over domain names, such as where cyber-squatters or others are preventing them from obtaining their name. 
He said that currently the only option for such businesses is to approach the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, or even the World Intellectual Property Organisation in relation to com names. 
AuDA is setting up a working party looking at a dispute resolution policy for the .au domain, he said. 
Disspain was accompanied on the VeCN meeting speakers panel by Dr Bruce Tonkin, chief technology officer from Melbourne IT and Michelle Scott, manager of online regulation policy for the Australian government's national Office for the Information Economy 

Dr Tonkin outlined some of the history to Melbourne IT's role in the Australian and international domain name system, noting that it is now registering more than 300,000 dot.com names each quarter in addition to the more than 176,000 it registered for the com.au domain last year. 
He also noted that more than 500 companies in Australia now sell com.au domain names.

 Ms Scott also gave a very interesting presentation, noting that Australia's domain name space extended to a number of its territories with their own domains.
She said Australia has formal responsibility for

  • Norfolk Island (.nf),
  • Cocos and Keeling Islands (.cc), 
  • Heard and McDonald Islands (.hm)
  • Christmas Island (cx) 
  • Antarctica (.aq) 

For more information go to: www.auda.org.au 
www.noie.gov.au
www.MelbourneIT.com.au

 ©2001 Technosocial Research Services