Please Get Your Submission In

Disclaimer: As well as being an auDA Member, I am now an auDA Demand Class Director. The article below is my personal opinion, and does not purport to be the views of auDA.

Submissions for the “Registrant Policy Issues Paper – January 2018” from auDA’s Policy Review Panel close on Sunday 4th March. That’s less than a week to have your say.

This Issues Paper does not cover proposed methods of implementation, so keep your powder dry for that one! That’s going to be the biggie.

Word To The Wise

From talking to a lot of end users of domains, I know there is a lot of negative sentiment about the introduction of direct registrations. I also know that there are some who are looking forward to it happening – particularly if it is implemented properly and fairly. (Then there are the great majority of registrants who wouldn’t even have a clue that this is even being proposed!).

But again, this Issues Paper is NOT about that. If you send in a submission that just makes a simple statement that it is a “cash grab” or something similar, then don’t expect much weight to be put on it (that’s a polite way of saying it will be ignored).

So please, have a go at answering the questions. The Policy Review Panel needs definitive feedback. Your answers can be as basic as “Yes”; “No”; or “No opinion”. And if you feel strongly about a particular question, then elaborate.

The Questions

.au Structure

1. Should the .au Domain namespace be a ‘general purpose’ domain for all Australians allowing
use for any purpose?

2. Should the net.au namespace be closed to new registrations? If so, should existing net.au
registrants be permitted to continue to renew their domain name indefinitely?

3. What should happen to the asn.au namespace? Should it be closed to new registrations or
retained as a dedicated namespace for associations?

4. Should the State and Territory namespaces be used for other purposes? If yes, why and
what are the purposes for which domain names should be registered under these
namespaces?

Reserved Names

5. Should auDA continue to maintain a public reserved list? Should the public reserved list be
published? What process or steps should auDA take before deleting a restricted or
prohibited name?

6. Should auDA be able to reserve names in the public interest? How should the public interest
be defined? What names should be reserved in the .au domain namespace? Should the
public interest test replace the Prohibition on Misspellings Policy?

7. Should the names identified in the discussion paper be reserved as future 2LD namespaces?
Are there other names that should be reserved for use as future 2LD namespaces and why?

8. Should there be a requirement for auDA to publish a list of names that are reserved for use
by the registry and names that pose a risk to the operational stability and utility of the .au
domain? Should there be any exceptions to the publication of names?

Eligibility and allocation rules

9. How should the Australian presence requirements be defined? Should trademark applicants
and registrants only be allowed to register a domain name that is an exact match to their
Australian trademark application or registration when relying on the trademark application
or registration to establish an Australian connection?

10. What eligibility and allocation rules should apply to the .au domain namespace (direct
registration) and the open 2LD namespaces, and why? Should the close and substantial
connection rule be retained and why? Should allocation criteria be removed, and the focus
be on registrant eligibility? Should domain monetisation continue to be permitted in the
com.au and net.au 2LD and at the second level? How should domain monetisers interests
be balanced against the needs of the broader Australian Internet Community?

11. Should internationalised domain names be trialled at the second level, and under what
conditions?

Licence conditions

12. Should a registrant be able to sublease the domain name to an unrelated party? If yes, in
what circumstances should this be permitted?

13. Where a domain name licence is transferred between registrants, should the transferee
receive the benefit of the remainder of the licence period?

14. Should auDA be given the power to suspend a domain name licence? When should auDA
suspend rather than cancel a domain name licence? What should be the maximum
suspension period before a domain name licence is cancelled?

15. For what purposes should auDA be allowed to collect, use and disclose registrant data?

16. Are there any concerns with the current level of information included in the public WHOIS
service? Should the technical contact field be utilised for agent and lessee details?

How To Make Your Submission

Best and easiest method is via email.

Submissions can be emailed to policy.review@auda.org.au

Disclaimer