auDA publishes list of unallocated com.au ‘generic’ names

Posted by Jo Lim on 1 October 2002

Melbourne, 1 October 2002 – auDA has today published the list of com.au names that were not allocated in the generic auction process.

The names will become available for registration on Thursday 3 October 2002 at 11.00am AEST.

The names will be allocated according to the normal domain name policy rules and registration process for com.au names. People who wish to apply for a name should contact an auDA accredited registrar. A list of registrars is available on the auDA web site at http://www.auda.org.au/registrars. Prices may vary, people should shop around for the offer that best suits them.

The release of the unallocated names marks the end of auDA’s generic name auction process, which commenced on 18 December 2001.

1,612 generic names were allocated, either to a single eligible applicant or at auction. The highest price paid for a generic name was $153,000, for flowers.com.au. The median auction price was $2,900. Most names were allocated for the minimum reserve price of $100.

The process raised approximately $2,611,000 in total, of which auDA has allocated approximately $780,000 for tax and $500,000 for contingencies.

At its meeting in August 2002, the auDA Board gave in principle support to a proposal to use the remainder of the auction revenue to establish the "auDA Foundation". The purpose of the Foundation will be to enhance the utility of the Internet for the benefit of the Australian community, through sponsorship of education and community projects. The proposal is being further developed by a Board sub-committee, which is expected to provide a report to the Board at the October 2002 meeting.

-ENDS-

For media contact:

Chris Disspain
Chief Executive Officer
auDA
tel: 03 9349 4711
email: ceo@auda.org.au