Re: [ga] A Worldwide Internet ... One Country At A Time

["Patrick Corliss" <patrick@quad.net.au>]

_________________________________________________________

I'm on the Board of auDA (the .au country code) as well as TLDA (the Top
Level Domain Association).   Please note that anything I write is my own
personal opinion and does not necessarily reflect the views of any body
with which I am associated.  Please also note IANAL (I Am Not A Lawyer).
_________________________________________________________

On Friday, November 30, 2001 3:48 AM, Joseph <fhlee@tm.net.my> wrote:
Subject: [ga] A Worldwide Internet ... One Country At A Time

> This is an interesting read ...
> http://www.isp-planet.com/hosting/2001/cctlds.html

Hi Joseph

Thanks for that.  A few quick points.

> New arrivals
> In the meantime, ICANN has been working to facilitate individual contracts
> with ccTLD managers. It has begun with two interesting candidates, one
> of the most widely used TLDs-.au, and one of the most widely ignored-.us.

Obviously Julie meant "one of the most widely used ccTLDs".  However, I have
no idea of the comparative statistics of other ccTLDs but understand the total
.au to be about 260,000 domain names (see below).

> Robert Elz, a gentleman who ran .au in his spare time as a volunteer,
> previously administered the country code for Australia. Last month, it was
> awarded by the Australian government to the .au Domain Administration (auDA)

Well that's not correct, in October auDA signed an agreement with ICANN:
http://www.auda.org.au/about/news/2001103002.html

and the Australian government formally endorsed auDA in December 2000
http://www.auda.org.au/about/news/2000120401.html

> a non-profit company established in 1999 by the Australian Internet
> community with oversight from the Australian government. Right now, auDA
> is accepting tenders for registries to manage the .au country code, which is
> now managed by MelbourneIT, one of the largest registrars, and also a
> partner in the new .biz registry that just went live in earlier this month.

The .au country code is managed by auDA.  The .au domain space is divided
into "second level" domains such as com.au and net.au.  By far the largest is
com.au held by Melbourne IT.  Of course, Melbourne IT is not the registry.

The main registry is AUNIC.  Details are at http://www.aunic.net/

In August 2001, Melbourne IT had 86% of the domain name market (approx 222,929
names out of a total of approx 258,587).
http://www.auda.org.au/docs/Budget_20-8.pdf

> Although .au has been re-delegated to auDA, it will continue to operate with
> the same structure-customers cannot simply buy a .au address with their
> chosen name on the second level. Instead, they must buy their domain name
> on the third level, with the second level reserved by the registry. As a
> result, customers can buy .com.au for trademarked businesses, .net.au for
> network administrators, .org.au for non-profit organizations and .id.au for
> individuals.

Basically true.  There are other "second levels" apart from those mentioned.
The .id.au are registered at the "fourth" level (not the third level as
stated).

<snip>

> Foregone conclusion
> So, what about the other 238 country code managers who have not signed
> agreements with ICANN?

> The country codes that have not yet been sold out to the highest bidders are
> to be sold on the open market. As a result, the fight for ccTLD control
> continues-one country at a time.

I wouldn't venture an opinion on this point.  However, I would suggest that
those wishing to find out about the Australia Domain Administration
(auDA) contact the Chief Executive Officer, Mr Chris Disspain as follows:

ceo@auda.org.au
+61-3-9349-4711

It's also easy enough to check the website at www.auda.org.au
They can, of course, check Melbourne IT details with them directly.

Regards
Patrick Corliss
_________________________________________________________

I'm on the Board of auDA (the .au country code) as well as TLDA (the Top
Level Domain Association).   Please note that anything I write is my own
personal opinion and does not necessarily reflect the views of any body
with which I am associated.  Please also note IANAL (I Am Not A Lawyer).
_________________________________________________________




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