auDA foils attempt to cash-in on Beaconsfield goldmine rescue

Posted by Jo Lim on 11 May 2006

May 11, 2006: This morning’s deletion of brantwebb.com.au and toddrussell.com.au by the Australian domain name administrator, auDA, shows that auDA is serious about the enforcement of its strict domain name registration rules, according to auDA CEO, Chris Disspain.

Mr Disspain said the two domain names were registered during the evening of Tuesday May 9 – the same day Beaconsfield miners Brant Webb and Todd Russell were rescued after spending 14 days trapped underground.

“By 9.00am the following morning auDA was aware of the registrations, “Mr Disspain said.

Mr Disspain said that while it was possible that the registrations were legitimate “our immediate reaction was that it was more likely to be an attempt by the registrant to ’cash in’ on the news story”.

"We immediately arranged for the registrant to receive a ‘please explain why you are eligible for these names’ notice and gave them 24 hours to respond. No satisfactory explanation of eligibility has been received so we deleted the domain names this morning,” he said.

Mr Disspain said com.au and net.au names are reserved for registered Australian businesses.

Further, com.au and net.au domain name registrants must also observe auDA’s eligibility criteria which means com.au and net.au domain names must either reflect the registered name of the business or trademark concerned or be “closely and substantially connected” with the activities that business undertakes.

He said the .au eligibility criteria are designed to ensure as many Australian businesses as possible are able to take advantage of the Internet and prevent  opportunistic or tenuous domain name registrations.

“Unlike global Top Level Domains (gTLDs) such as .com and .net, com.au and net.au ‘mean business’ and auDA certainly means business when it comes to the enforcement of its domain name registration rules,” Mr Disspain said.

He said the incident served as a reminder that auDA remained committed to preserving the integrity and functionality of the Australian domain name system.

“The Australian domain name system is one of the best regulated and therefore one of the best functioning domain name systems in the world,” he said.

“At auDA we believe there is a place for everyone on the web however the corollary of this is of course that everyone must ‘know their place’.

ENDS

.au Domain Administration Ltd (auDA) is an Australian not-for-profit company vested with the responsibility of operating the .au domain for the benefit of all stakeholders.

In its role as manager of the .au domain, auDA carries out the following functions:

• develop and implement domain name policy
  
• license 2LD registry operators
  
• accredit and license registrars
  
• implement consumer safeguards
  
• facilitate .au Dispute Resolution Policy
  
• represent .au at ICANN and other international fora.
  

Media Contacts:
Blackie McDonald
Luke Dean, Account Manager
Luke.Dean@bmcd.com.au
02 9929 0200
0414 535 433