RSSauDA extends AusRegistry's .au registry term to 2014
auDA today announced that it has extended its .au Registry Licence Agreement with AusRegistry. AusRegistry will now continue as Registry Operator and wholesale provider for all commercial domain names including .com.au and .net.au and non-commercial domain names, .gov.au and .edu.au until 2014.The extension of the term is the direct result of the independent Industry Competition Panel that was established by .au Domain Administration (auDA) in May 2008. The panel was appointed by auDA to review auDA’s competition model for the Australian Domain Name Industry and provide recommendations to the auDA board on what changes (if any) should be made to the competition model.
Among the many recommendations of the Panel was the following;
“Recommendation 2: The Panel recommends that auDA negotiates with the current registry operator with a view to extending the current registry licence term by up to 4 years. Such an extension should be subject to agreement being reached on (a) a suitable pricing model and (b) the inclusion of all items that auDA would require in a new license.”
Chris Disspain, CEO of auDA said, “Based on the recommendations of the independent panel we entered into discussions with AusRegistry to renegotiate the Licence Agreement. I am delighted we have been able to reach agreement. auDA believes that AusRegistry continues to excel in its role as Registry Operator and provides unprecedented support and competitive pricing for the .au namespace.”
The major points of the renegotiated Licence Agreement include;
extended Customer Support Hours for Registrar
funding towards Marketing and Market Research
a $0.25 donation to the auDA Foundation for every .com.au and .net.au domain renewal and new registration
the implementation of DNSSEC
commitment to yearly independent Security Audits
continued improvement and enhancement of the Registry Software
new pricing that sees a drop in the AusRegistry wholesale price to $14 (for a 2 year licence) for com.au and net.au domains and further drops as volumes increase
AusRegistry CEO, Adrian Kinderis, said, “We are obviously extremely happy to have reached agreement to extend the licence. We are very proud of the role we have preformed as Registry Operator since 2002 and look forward to continuing to show the world the .au is at the forefront of Domain Name Registry technology.”