From: Sam Ivey 
Sent: Friday, 15 June 2007 10:43 AM
To: jo.lim@auda.org.au; info@auda.org.au;
Subject: FW: My thoughts on your issues paper


Hello Jo,



Should registrants be allowed to sell their .au domain names? 



Yes! 



Several years ago I registered a few names all with good intentions of development. Over the years, 
my intentions / priorities have changed. Several people have enquired about the purchase of my names; 
however I have to tell them that due to auDA policy I can not sell/trade them. 



Regardless of the current 'licence conditions' I firmly believe that domain names are appreciating 
assets. As an example, I have owned a certain domain name for 4 years at a cost of $50 per annum. I 
believe the undeveloped domain asset alone "owes" me $200. As with any asset, I do not want to let it 
expire. It has now become more cost effective to keep registering it as the "cost/value" of releasing 
the name outweighs the cost of renewal. I am prepared to renew and do nothing with it (until such time 
as I can dedicate time to it) or sell it to recover the total cost of ownership. 



If someone was to approach me and offer $200 I would sell the domain to them. If I offered the domain 
for sale at $500 and the person did not want to pay that amount; that is fine too. As with any commodity, 
the market will decide a price. The true value of any domain is only worth what someone else is willing 
to pay. 



By the same token, I desperately want other names, some of which are not currently being used. I would 
be prepared to pay a value that I think is recoverable with my plans to market said name. 



There is no way I would want to purchase a .au name when the equivalent .com.au name is already owned by 
another registrant. I do not believe I could effectively market the alternate name without losing 
business to the original .com.au name and vice versa.



I believe Australian registrants should be permitted to buy and sell .com.au names in an open market. 
The current "close or substantial" rule is also very restrictive for regular Australians who just wish 
to buy purpledonkey.com.au for their own weblog or cherryfamily.com.au for a family website. Registrants 
should just have to provide 100 points of identification to prove they are Australian residents and then 
they can buy and sell whichever .com.au domain names they wish. The .com.au domains define us as a country, 
as Australians. Being Australian should be the only requirement to trade in the name space.





Thanks,



Sam Ivey

Brisbane, Australia