In a series of reforms announced this week, the Australian Domain Name Administrator (auDA) has regulated against domain traders by outlawing the practice of registering a domain name for the sole purpose of reselling it.
The auDA board approved the reforms this week after policy submissions were drafted on the basis of recommendations made at a names policy panel meeting late last year, with the authority now allowing the transfer of domain name licences between relevant entities under a separate condition requiring parties to disclose the sale method and price of any domain transaction.
Larry Bloch, CEO of domain name registering service NetRegistry, welcomed the move to relax guidelines surrounding the transfer of domain names between businesses, saying "these are policy changes the industry has been waiting for".
"We've been saying since 2002 that an outright prohibition on the sale and transfer of domain names is draconian and unnecessary," he said, adding that he was also in favour of the measure introduced requiring parties to disclose the sum and method of their transactions.
"What we're after is transparency, so I'd say it's a good thing," said Bloch. "It's a lot like house prices, people are able to see them and get an idea of the market. Having said that there's so many different ways that things can change hands in the domain space that it can be difficult to get an accurate picture."
While the reforms have been spearheaded by a loosening of restrictions on the transfer of domain names from one registrant to another, a separate feature of the policy has stated that "it will not be allowable to register a domain name for the sole purpose of resale or transfer to a third party".
Bloch was critical, however, of auDA's move to regulate against speculative trading in the domain name space, claiming this to be a case of bureaucratic mishandling and an example of the authority "yet again trying to influence the market forces that govern this space".
"This is classic anti-business behaviour from auDA, not everyone buying something wants to use it, there's always a section in any market that simply trades," he said.
Bloch went on to describe this particular change as "unworkable", saying that it had proven to be a difficult area to enforce already.
According to Bloch, although the policy has "never been explicitly stated" it has always been the case that speculative trading in domain names is illegal.
"Overall, I think trying to stop this does more to hinder legitimate business than it does to thwart speculators," he said.
The domain name authority has also introduced a six-month cooling off period for businesses wishing to sell on a domain name, with the policy announcement stating "after six months, registrants will be able to offer their domain name for sale/transfer by any means".
The announcement comes after it was revealed last week that a Sydney business was plunged into substantial difficulty after auDA revoked its domain licence with only 24 hours' notice.
auDA CEO Chris Disspain was unavailable for comment when contacted by ZDNet.com.au.
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michael dawson - 16/03/08
AUDA needs to just make it an open free enterprise market same as the rest of the world
AUDA also needs to lower any fees the registrars will try to charge for changing registrants. This will be soke huge rip off probably as registrars cash in on changing registered owners to swap names.
domain speculators are some of the biggest companies in the world not just little guys investing. Have a look at all the major Australian corporates buying up domain names and sitting on them ( speculating)
here are some examples
http://www.dnjournal.com/cover/2008/march.htm
Born to Run: How Oversee.net Co-Founder and CEO Lawrence Ng Built a Company with $200 Million in Annual Revenue Before His 30th Birthday
The wave of consolidation that has swept through the domain industry over the past couple of years has left a handful of giants at the head of the pack. Oversee.net is certainly one of those, having assembled some of the best-known brands in this space, including DomainSponsor.com, SnapNames.com and Moniker.com.
Oversee also owns approximately 600,000 domains of their own and through DomainSponsor they monetize over 2 million more for other domain owners. They also operate leading websites in the mortgage and travel fields with Low.com and LowFares.com. The company’s annual revenues topped $200 million in 2007 (up from $125 million the year before).
Building that kind of empire would take a lifetime for most businessmen, so it is hard to get your head around the fact that Oversee’s energetic Co-Founder and CEO Lawrence Ng is just 29 years old. Ng and a pal from his college days, Fred Hsu, started Oversee from scratch in 2000, just after the original .com bubble had burst and everyone else thought the game was over. Ng and Hsu refused to believe that.
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Macquarie Bank starts quietly investing in generic .com.au domain name market!
http://www.ausregistry.com.au/whois.php
Domain Name: boatcleaning.com.au
Registrant: MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED
Registrant ID: ACN 122169279
Eligibility Type: Company
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/biztech/the-coming-dot-au-property-boom/2008/02/26/1203788290820.html
http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/communications/soa/auDA-may-open-up-au/0,130061791,339274647,00.htm
http://www.smh.com.au/news/web/domain-kings-rivers-of-gold/2008/01/28/1201369021193.html
Domain names are some of the most valuable real estate in the world and major companies are now competing in the Australian .com.au field of buying them all up!
Here is just a few that major Australian companies have fought over so far and with the nsw AUDA changes set to start in a few months finally companies can compete to buy the names they want to use in an open and fair free market way like the rest of the world has been doing for years allowing anyone to buy and resell.
There are thousands more generic .com.au names that major Australian companies have registered. Here are just some examples
www.photocopier.com.au
Registrant: Fuji Xerox Australia Pty Ltd
Registrant ID: ABN 63000341819
Eligibility Type: Company
www.milk.com.au
Registrant: National Foods Milk Limited
Registrant ID: ACN 051195272
Eligibility Type: Company
www.bestbank.com.au
Registrant: St.George Bank Limited
Registrant ID: OTHER 055 513 070
Eligibility Type: Other
Eligibility Name: bestbank
Eligibility ID: NSW BN v6880401 (NSW)
www.smartbanking.com.au
Registrant: National Australia Bank Limited
Registrant ID: ABN 12004044937
Eligibility Type: Registered Business
www.happybanking.com.au
Registrant: BANKWEST
Registrant ID: ABN 22050494454
Eligibility Type: Company
www.mortgage.com.au
Registrant: Ing Bank (Australia) Limited
Registrant ID: ACN 000893292
Eligibility Type: Company
www.vodka.com.au
Registrant: CARLTON AND UNITED BEVERAGES LIMITED
Registrant ID: ACN 004 056 106
Eligibility Type: Company
www.rum.com.au
Registrant: Guinness United Distillers and Vintners Australia Ltd
Registrant ID: ACN 004167720
Eligibility Type: Company
www.beer.com.au
Registrant: CARLTON AND UNITED BEVERAGES LIMITED
Registrant ID: ACN 004 056 106
Eligibility Type: Company
www.scotch.com.au
Registrant: 3M Australia Pty Ltd.
Registrant ID: ACN 000100096
Eligibility Type: Company
www.tennis.com.au
Registrant: Tennis Australia
Registrant ID: ABN 61 006 281 125
Eligibility Type: Company
Eligibility Name: LAWN TENNIS ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA LTD
Eligibility ID: VIC BN 97946046
www.honey.com.au
Registrant: Honey Corporation of Australia Ltd
Registrant ID: OTHER 009 686 435
Eligibility Type: Other
www.cows.com.au
Registrant: George Weston Foods
Registrant ID: ABN 45008429632
Eligibility Type: Company
www.pigs.com.au
Registrant: George Weston Foods Ltd
Registrant ID: OTHER 735563
Eligibility Type: Trademark Owner
www.ham.com.au
Registrant: GEORGE WESTON FOODS LIMITED
Registrant ID: ACN 008 429 632
Eligibility Type: Trademark Owner
Eligibility Name: Heavenly Ham
Eligibility ID: TM 636041
www.itjobs.com.au
Registrant: FAIRFAX DIGITAL AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND PTY LIMITED
Registrant ID: OTHER 087 887 456
Eligibility Type: Other
Eligibility Name: FAIRFAX IT JOBS
Eligibility ID: NSW BN BN97779401 (NSW)
www.eggs.com.au
Registrant: WESTERN AUSTRALIAN EGG MARKETING BOARD
ABN - 78 518 569 654
www.bikini.com.au
Registrant: Tiger Lily Swimwear Pty Ltd
Registrant ID: ACN 092 935 361
Eligibility Type: Company
www.kettles.com.au
Registrant: Sunbeam
Registrant ID: ABN 45000006771
Eligibility Type: Company
Registrant Contact Name: John Doe !
www.houses.com.au
Registrant: realestate.com.au
Registrant ID: ACN 068349066
Eligibility Type: Company
http://www.dailydomainer.com/200724-tenniscomau-sold-for-an-estimated-us50k-to-us70k.html
sites such as www.sedo.com www.afternic.com are apparently very keen to now include .com.au names when the policy is ready. The rest of the world has allowed reselling for years.
http://www.dnjournal.com/domainsales.htm
http://www.dnjournal.com/ytd-sales-charts.htm
In December 2007, the auDA Board approved a recommendation from the 2007 Names Policy Panel to relax current policy and allow a registrant to transfer their domain name licence to another eligible entity, for any reason.
The auDA Board has approved an implementation plan for the new registrant transfers policy. auDA anticipates that the new policy will be introduced in mid-2008.
More information about the new transfers policy is available at http://www.auda.org.au/news-archive/auda-26022008/.
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