Australian registration is overegulated

[Nerz]

Even though i mainly deal with .com, I thought id take a look at the http://www.auda.org.au/ site for the lowdown on australian registration. What is and isnt allowed and it occured to me after reading it, that its wayyy overregulated. In fact it seriously undermines the registration of australian domains for individuals. Take a look at this page:

http://www.auda.org.au/domains/au-domains/

Now you see ive had a couple .au domains before, a couple of .net.au's but the problem with that is, the overwhelming majority of the australian public only really know about .com.au, and unlike .com, you have to be an australian registered business to register a .com.au domain.

I was speaking with barefoottech the other day about the .au registration, and seemingly that is also very highly regulated. They should deregulate that country code, and make it available..at least like the .us code is available to u.s citizens...perhaps even going the whole hog like .be and .es have done.

Im sure it would encourage a bit more development with australian relevance as well.

Isnt it about time Australia come to the party and either deregulate the country code tld and make it available...or make .com.au easier to acquire.

 

[barefoottech]

Yes the .AU namespace is highly regulated
Great , I am actually in favour of this.

You raise a couple points that need clarifying
1/ Yes you have to be an Australian Registered Business, but an Australian resident like yourself can obtain the necessary ABN from the ATO Website for free by quoting your TAX File Number (Similiar to US SSN)
Once you have your ABN ,you can register any available name .com.au or .net.au
Barefoottech.com.au
Barefoottech.net.au
Lowcosthosting.com.au
WebName4.com.au

2/ As an Australian citizen you are entitled to register as many .id.au for your own usage, as you wish. PM me for details of 6months Free regs on these .
(No foreigners ,as refusal will offend)
Dunderhill.id.au
Vista.id.au

3/ No trading in names allowed , no dummy proxies allowed . Any infringements you not only lose the names , you will be fined by the government .TOS of service and usage of .au names is enforced.
Just last week I busted a young guy who had setup a dummy organisation and registered some highly desirable keyword rich .org.au names and then offered them for sale at sedo. I reported him to auDA and informed SEDO. He is under investigation for false registration as is the registrar.
.org.au are only for Registered organisations
.asn.au are only for associations meeting the government criteria

All the other .au cctlds are restricted to government or no longer available

 

[Nerz]

Yes the .AU namespace is highly regulated
Great , I am actually in favour of this.

You raise a couple points that need clarifying
1/ Yes you have to be an Australian Registered Business, but an Australian resident like yourself can obtain the necessary ABN from the ATO Website for free by quoting your TAX File Number (Similiar to US SSN)
Once you have your ABN ,you can register any available name .com.au or .net.au
Barefoottech.com.au
Barefoottech.net.au
Lowcosthosting.com.au
WebName4.com.au

I wasnt even aware of that Thx. I thought i had to setup a proper company and go through all that bother.

2/ As an Australian citizen you are entitled to register as many .id.au for your own usage, as you wish. PM me for details of 6months Free regs on these .
(No foreigners ,as refusal will offend)
Dunderhill.id.au
Vista.id.au

Nice, but it does suffer from a lack of visibility...I cant recall any popular id.au sites...I guess thats something that needs work though

3/ No trading in names allowed , no dummy proxies allowed . Any infringements you not only lose the names , you will be fined by the government .TOS of service and usage of .au names is enforced.
Just last week I busted a young guy who had setup a dummy organisation and registered some highly desirable keyword rich .org.au names and then offered them for sale at sedo. I reported him to auDA and informed SEDO. He is under investigation for false registration as is the registrar.
.org.au are only for Registered organisations
.asn.au are only for associations meeting the government criteria

All the other .au cctlds are restricted to government or no longer available

 

[Reppy]

I'm Australian and I own just one .com.au

I have a registered business name and an ABN.

I may register some more in the near future, but only if i know that I will seriously do something with them.

Do you have some links for source on your third point? Not that I don't believe you, and not that I've ever traded a .com.au nor have I ever considered it, but I would like to know what the law actually says.

 

[barefoottech]

I'm Australian and I own just one .com.au

I have a registered business name and an ABN.

I may register some more in the near future, but only if i know that I will seriously do something with them.

Do you have some links for source on your third point? Not that I don't believe you, and not that I've ever traded a .com.au nor have I ever considered it, but I would like to know what the law actually says.

Relevant Documentation and link to the full policy ,regarding domain name sales and speculation.

http://www.auda.org.au/pdf/auda-2005-05.pdf">PDF version

Clarification of Domain Name Licence - Prohibition on Sale of Domain Name (2005-05)
Policy No: 2005-05
Publication Date: 22/07/2005
Status: Current
1. BACKGROUND
1.1 This document clarifies the terms and conditions of a domain name
licence in the .au domain, with respect to offering a domain name for sale.
1.2 Under clauses 10.1 and 10.2 of the Registrar Agreement, accredited
registrars are required to enter into a binding and enforceable Registrant
Agreement (domain name licence) with a registrant which contains a number
of minimum provisions, including:
a) the registrant must not, directly or indirectly, through registration
or use of its domain name or otherwise, register a domain name for the purpose of selling it; and
b) the registrant must not in any way transfer or purport to transfer a
proprietary right in any domain name registration.
2. PROHIBITION ON SALE OF DOMAIN NAME BY REGISTRANT
2.1 There are no proprietary rights in a domain name. A registrant does
not "own" their domain name, instead they hold a licence to use the domain
name for a specified period of time and subject to the licence terms and
conditions.
2.2 Because the registrant does not have a proprietary right in the domain
name, it is not legally possible for the registrant to "sell" the domain name.
By offering to sell their domain name to another party, the registrant
is in breach of the Registrant Agreement.

2.3 It is possible for a registrant to transfer their domain name licence
to another party, but only in the circumstances set out in auDA's
Transfers (Change of Registrant) Policy (Policy No 2004-03). A registrant
who attempts to "sell" their domain name licence should be aware that such a transaction
will not fall within the circumstances set out in the Transfers (Change of Registrant) Policy,
and therefore the domain name will not be transferred to the other party.

Further to the above, there are Specific clauses banning "warehousing","typosquatting","cybersquatting"