RSSMYOB Australia E1 Pty Ltd breaches Registrar Agreement
auDA has found that auDA accredited registrar MYOB Australia E1 Pty Ltd trading as MYOB Web Hosting, breached the Registrar Agreement by allowing a change of effective control to occur without auDA's prior consent.
The change of effective control of MYOB Australia E1 Pty Ltd occurred when it was acquired by Uber Global Pty Ltd, another auDA accredited registrar. As a result of the acquisition by Uber Global Pty Ltd, the name of company changed from MYOB Australia E1 Pty Ltd to Uber Australia E1 Pty Ltd and new directors were appointed.
The Registrar Agreement contains a provision which prohibits an accredited registrar from permitting a change of effective control to occur without auDA's prior consent. Such provisions are common in regulated industries, where the ownership structure or personality behind a particular contracting party is an important factor in determining whether the regulator enters into a contract with that party.
Within the context of administering the .au domain name system, this requirement permits auDA to have some level of control over the diversity of registrars within the competitive framework, and to ensure that the security of the .au registry database is protected from unauthorised access.
Uber Australia E1 Pty Ltd has acknowledged that it breached the Registrar Agreement and has undertaken steps as required by auDA to rectify the breach by:
- sending out a formal notice to all its existing registrants about the change in ownership and name of its company; and
- updating its website and related websites to clarify the ownership and name change.