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Fair trade or exploitation — the ‘warehousing’ of Internet domain names

By LAURIE PATTON | 27 March 2019

auDA – the company managing our Internet domain name registration system – is engaged in a reform program. This follows a review by the communications department which called for major governance changes.

As I have previously written, auDA had been mired in controversy for many years, with the impression being it was subject to too much influence from vested interests, including an inner circle of what are called ‘domainers’ – people who buy and sell domain names, often extracting large windfall profits by warehousing unique names that subsequently command a premium. 

auDA has released a discussion paper and has called for public submissions on a range of proposed policy and operational changes. This is being accompanied by a consultation process that sees auDA presenting to MP’s and senators at Parliament House next week.

Continue reading “Fair trade or exploitation — the ‘warehousing’ of Internet domain names”
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Afilias Australia secures Guinness World Records title

By LAURIE PATTON | 19 September 2018

Afilias Australia – the company that recently took over the management of our domain names register – has received a Guinness World Records title. The award, presented in New York, was made for the successful and seamless transition of the 3.1 million .au domain names from the previous operator. It was the single largest migration of an Internet top level domain registry in the world and took place from 1 July this year.

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auDA members to vote on new governance package

By LAURIE PATTON | 5 September 2018

auDA – the company managing our Internet domain names – will hold a special general meeting later this month in order to secure approval for a new constitution and other changes to governance arrangements. This follows a demand for reform after a review by the Department of Communications and the Arts found the organisation no longer fit-for-purpose.

Continue reading “auDA members to vote on new governance package”

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Let’s meet, then please move on — reforming auDA

By LAURIE PATTON | 25 July 2018

“The process of registering and administering Internet domain names under the .au top level domain must be managed with full integrity and transparency of process and decision-making to ensure this public resource supports the needs of all Internet users and stakeholders”.

This statement from Internet Australia chair, Dr Paul Brooks, sums up why a number of Internet industry players are speaking out against a board spill at a Special General Meeting of auDA – the company managing our Internet domain names – to be held in Melbourne on Friday. If you have a website you’ll have dealt with one of the companies that sell domain names to the public. They all operate under the authority and supervision of auDA.

Continue reading “Let’s meet, then please move on — reforming auDA”

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auDA latest — all quiet on the western front (for now, at least)

By LAURIE PATTON | 3 July 2018

As I’ve written previously, the Australian Government has given auDA – the company managing our Internet domain names – three months to develop new processes to redress historical weaknesses in its governance. The organisation has been mired in controversy in recent years. For quite some time, though, it had been seen as a tightly held fiefdom under the control of a board of directors elected from within the industry and fraught with conflicts of interest.

auDA brought in a team of external facilitators to run a member consultation session. Only about a dozen people showed up in person and about the same number attended online. This suggests to me that claims of widespread disquiet among the auDA constituency might be a tad overblown. Continue reading “auDA latest — all quiet on the western front (for now, at least)”