Re: auDA Panel releases Issues Paper for commentFrom: Karl Schaffarczyk 
Sent: Thursday, 14 June 2007 8:16 PM
To: Jo Lim
Subject: Re: auDA Panel releases Issues Paper for comment

Dear Ms Lim,
I hope this email finds you, and all panel members in good health.






Should .au be opened up to direct registrations (eg. domainname.au)? If
yes, should there be any policy rules, and if so what rules?

No. This issue has been examined many times in the past by auDA panels, and usually at some length.
There are no significant changes in the issues since this question was last considered. So why is 
the panel considering this issue again so soon after the last time the question was resolved in the 
negative?
I put it to the panel that should a decision be made to flatten the .au space, it will be very difficult 
to reverse the decision when it is realised a mistake has been made.






Should the policy rules for asn.au, com.au, id.au, net.au and org.au be
changed? If yes, what changes should be made?

Yes. The current close and substantial connection rule appears to be abused by some parties. I have been 
advised by a registrar (who will remain nameless) "Oh, you can have any domain you want, just state 
"Name of a service which we provide" and we will just put it through". This suggests to me that the 
registrars no longer take this process seriously, and that the policy is in essence "Open Slather".
For examples of domain name registrations which are questionable, and possibly registered in similar 
circumstances, please refer to some other submissions to the current discussion paper.


I suggest that the current rules need to be strengthened a little to better protect businesses against 
squatters, monetisers, and those who engage in other bad faith registrations.


The current policy should throw out the provisions which permit domains registered for monetisation 
purposes. The .au domain space has historically been one of high quality content, and trustworthy 
registrations (eg www.victa.com.au arrives at the site expected). In recent times I have noted a number 
of 'garbage' registrations, and one example is mentioned in another submission - www.operahouse.com.au.
The relaxed rules now permitting such fringe uses of domain names is quite worrying, and increases the 
amount of crap to be found in the Australia namespace.






Should registrants be allowed to sell their .au domain names?
In short:
a) they can already under the current rules and policies.
b) relaxing the rules will increase fringe activity - including: squatting of domain names and then 
selling them at the same cost that would be incurred in disputing under the auDRP.
c) making the rules more restrictive will inconvenience those needing to change ownership for legitimate 
reasons.








Regards
Karl Schaffarczyk