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<p>Hi everyone, <br>
</p>
<p>In line with our values of openness and transparency, there's two
key things I'd like to communicate this evening. <br>
</p>
<h4>Linux Australia's submission to the auDA direct registration
policy review</h4>
<p>As you might be aware, auDA has recently decided to allow direct
domain registrations into the .au ccTLD. A Policy Review Panel has
been convened to hear submissions related to the implementation of
this policy decision. Given Linux Australia's interest in the
*.conf.au 2LD, we have made a submission. The submission PDF
contains my signature, so I haven't attached it here, but the text
is reproduced below. <br>
</p>
<p>Sincere thanks are extended to Secretary, Sae Ra Germaine, and
long-time leader of our Admin Team, Steve Walsh, for their efforts
in producing this submission, and to my Council colleagues Josh
Stewart and David Bell for their input and QA. Thank you all. <br>
</p>
<h4>Proxy vote to Nicole Murdoch in auDA Board Elections</h4>
<p>Linux Australia has directed our proxy vote in the upcoming auDA
Board Elections to Nicole Murdoch, and instructed her via a Proxy
Form to register 'FOR' votes for herself and Ned O'Meara in the
upcoming auDA board election, to be held on 27th November. We
thank all board candidates who contacted Linux Australia
requesting our proxy vote.<br>
</p>
<p>As always, your feedback, comments and queries are warmly
welcomed. <br>
</p>
<p>(A newsier "update" email to come in a week or so when we get
some breathing space)<br>
</p>
<p>Kind regards, <br>
</p>
<p>Kathy</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<h4>Text of Linux Australia's submission to the auDA direct
registration policy review</h4>
<p>Submission to the auDA on the Naming Policy of .au domains<br>
<br>
Disclosure of interests<br>
<br>
<br>
Linux Australia Inc is the peak governing body for open technology
in Australia. We represent thousands of open source users and
developers within Australia. <br>
Our flagship conference is linux.conf.au; an internationally
recognised grassroots free and open source (FOSS) technology
conference. Linux Australia also auspices a number of other open
technology related conferences throughout Australia and New
Zealand including PyCon AU, DrupalGov, DrupalSouth and WordCamps.
We have recently formalised an MoU with WordPress Community
Support LLC to foster additional WordPress community growth within
Australia. <br>
<br>
<br>
Linux Australia is the recipient of a grandfathered domain
‘linux.conf.au’ following the significant historical use of the
domain under the previous registration system run by K. Robert Elz
[0], and the successful submission of a number of proposals when
the .conf.au namespace was retired in 2010. This submission
includes the historical documentation provided to AUDA during this
process in 2009/2010 as attachments.<br>
<br>
<br>
Overview<br>
Linux Australia appreciates the opportunity to respond to the
Australian Domain Name Administration (auDA) inquiry into policy
changes aimed at implementing direct registration of domain names.
For reference: This submission is in direct relation to the
conf.au 2LD but should be applied to other direct registrations.<br>
<br>
Direct registration has raised significant concerns both in its
proposed scope and proposed implementation pathways. <br>
<br>
3 implementation issues have been identified:<br>
<br>
Ability to retain existing grandfathered domain names prior to
implementation (either through direct allocation or a permanent
registration process);<br>
Preserving registration rights for specifically related domain
names;<br>
Mechanisms for implementing direct registration. <br>
<br>
Retaining existing grandfathered domain names <br>
<br>
It is Linux Australia’s position that there should be the
reservation of specific 2LDs to accommodate those who currently
fall under a specific 2LD including .gov.au, .edu.au, .org.au,
.asn.au and .conf.au. These domains should be retained as open
2LDs in the .au namespace. <br>
<br>
<br>
Linux Australia posits that the opening of existing 2LD namespaces
to a more generic Direct Registration system will lead to an
increase in unrelated organisational domain registrations, with
subsequent inflated pricing, and loss of brand recognition due to
unrelated website content. Furthermore, the brand credibility and
trust inherent in 2LDs such as .gov.au, .edu.au and so on will be
significantly diluted should the existing restrictions on their
registration be loosened. <br>
<br>
<br>
Diminution of brand trust and credibility at the 2LD level also
reflects poorly on the .au ccTLD - a point that appears to have
gone unidentified and unaddressed in the process antecedent to
discussions of implementation. Indeed, one of the primary reasons
for auDA’s creation was to preserve the integrity of Australia’s
ccTLD. <br>
Preserving registration rights <br>
for specifically related domain names<br>
The move from the registrations of 2LD namespaces in Australia to
direct registrations could potentially result in erroneous and
disingenuous domain name registrations requiring litigious
resolutions. It is the position of Linux Australia that
registration of a specific or generic direct registration should
be restricted to parties that can demonstrate an existing
relationship with a domain name registered in a 2LD namespace to
maintain a fair and open distribution. Moving forward, new
entrants to the market would need to obtain a relevant domain in a
2LD namespace prior to seeking direct registration in the .au
ccTLD namespace. For example “Bob’s Books” has bobsbooks.com.au,
and therefore should be given preference for bobsbooks.au. “Books
of Robert” do not have a .com.au address, and want bobsbooks.au.
“Books of Robert” are refused bobsbooks.au.<br>
Mechanisms for implementing direct registration<br>
It is Linux Australia’s position that the current auDA policies
including the requirement for an Australian residency, exact
match, acronym or abbreviation of the registrant’s company or
trading name and the need for a substantial and close connection
should continue to be applied to any future direct registrations
within the available 2LD namespaces, thus preserving the
integrity, value and good repute of domains in the .au ccTLD. <br>
Conclusion<br>
Linux Australia recommends in the strongest possible terms that
the Policy Review Panel closely examine examples presented by
ICAAN and recommends in the strongest possible terms that the
application of auDA’s current policies for 2LD be applied to
direct registrations. <br>
<br>
<br>
Linux Australia recommends in the strongest possible terms that
preferential rights to holders of current 2LDs are ascribed to
ensure the continuation of brand recognition and the removal of
confusion for those with 2LD namespace registrations.<br>
<br>
<br>
Should direct registrations into the .au ccTLD progress to
implementation - given the doubt cast on this by several Board
candidates, then Linux Australia urges the Policy Review panel to
consider in depth the ramifications that implementation of direct
registrations will yield. <br>
<br>
<br>
Linux Australia would be delighted to meet with the .auDA Naming
Policy Panel to further discuss our submission and represent our
viewpoints. <br>
<br>
<br>
Yours sincerely,<br>
<br>
Kathy Reid BA/BSc MBA (Computing)<br>
President<br>
Linux Australia Inc. <br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:president@linux.org.au">president@linux.org.au</a><br>
ABN 56 987 117 479 <br>
Appendix - History of .conf.au<br>
<br>
<br>
[0] AUNIC1 states the current purpose the "conf.au" 2LD -
"(conf.au) is used to support conferences and exhibitions that
require a named Internet presence. The domain is a short duration
domain, delegated to a conference or exhibition for a strictly
limited duration."<br>
<br>
<br>
Examples of previous users of this name space include Linux
Australia (linux.conf.au), Australian Diabetes Society
(ads-adea2002.conf.au), Australian Health and Medical Research
Congress (ahmrcongress2002.conf.au), First Cultures
(firstcultures.conf.au), Best for Women (bestforwomen.conf.au),
and several other health and medical related conferences
(irf4thcongress.conf.au, insideout.conf.au, etc).<br>
<br>
In all cases, these domains were registered and maintained using a
complex manual process that was error-prone and often resulted in
the domain being de-registered mid-event due to either
miscommunication or mis-understanding of the registration process.<br>
Copyright<br>
This document is licensed under the Creative Commons
Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Australia license (CC-BY-SA-3.0-AU). To
view a copy of this license, visit
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/au/">http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/au/</a><br>
or send a letter to Creative Commons, 444 Castro Street, Suite
900, Mountain View, California, 94041, USA.<br>
<br>
END DOCUMENT<br>
<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Kathy Reid
President
Linux Australia
0418 130 636
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:president@linux.org.au">president@linux.org.au</a>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://linux.org.au">http://linux.org.au</a>
Linux Australia Inc
GPO Box 4788
Sydney NSW 2001
Australia
ABN 56 987 117 479 </pre>
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