[Linux-aus] auDA and the conf.au domain

[James Turnbull]

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Hi all

Last year, auDA asked for public comment on 2LDs in the Australian
name space, including conf.au with which LCA has a long history.

That process has now progressed into a formal proposal, which you
can find here:

http://www.auda.org.au/pdf/new2ldsap-discussion-paper.pdf

The sections relevant to LCA and the .conf.au discussion are:

***

2.6 The Panel has decided to consider the event.au and conf.au
proposals together, as they are both based on the premise that there
is a need for an events-related 2LD.

2.7 The proposal for event.au states that its purpose is to
?consolidate the event industry across Australia?. The proponent of
event.au has suggested that it be introduced as a replacement for
conf.au, in order to ?broaden the eligibility for all types of
events?. The intended users of event.au would be Australian entities
who wish to register a domain name for an event (defined as
meetings, conferences, seminars, exhibitions, fairs, festivals,
fetes, tournaments, races, games, dances, parades, performances or
parties).

2.8 The Panel has conducted a preliminary evaluation of the proposal
against the selection criteria (refer to paragraph 2.2 above), and
its findings are as follows:

  1. The Panel?s view is that the needs of users are already
accommodated because conference organisers and event managers can
register domain names in existing 2LDs, under the ?close and
substantial connection rule?.

  2. The Panel notes that the proponent has not provided any
evidence of support for event.au among intended users, or the wider
community.

  3. Given the lack of evidence of user support (see 2 above), the
Panel does not have sufficient information to judge the proposal
against this criterion at this time.

  4. The Panel believes that the proposal meets this criterion; the
name ?event? is generic, and the proposed policy rules would be
consistent with policy rules for existing commercial 2LDs.

2.9 Of the two proposals to reactivate conf.au, one (Walsh) supports
the narrow focus of the original 2LD on conferences and exhibitions,
while the other (Tearle) suggests that the 2LD could be expanded to
include a wider range of events. Both proponents argue that the
utility of conf.au has already been demonstrated through past use
(eg. linux.conf.au, bestforwomen.conf.au).

2.10 The main question raised by Panel members is whether there is
any evidence of user demand, or support for an events-related 2LD
from among the intended user group. The Panel would be interested to
know if conference organisers (including professional or commercial
conference organisers), event managers and the like, see any benefit
or utility in an events-related 2LD.

2.11 The Panel believes that it would not be desirable to have both
conf.au and event.au. Panel members feel that ?event? is a more
intuitive name and would have a wider application and appeal than
?conf?. If a case cannot be made out for the creation of event.au,
then it follows logically that there is also no case for the
reactivation of conf.au. Either way, the Panel?s view is that
conf.au should be closed down.

2B
The Panel invites comments on:

(i) the proposal to create event.au as a new 2LD, , with reference
to the selection criteria:
- - would event.au serve the needs of users, or a community of users,
that are not well served by the existing 2LDs?
- - is there support for event.au, in particular among the users it is
intended to serve, and in general terms from the wider community?
- - would event.au contribute to the broad utility of the Australian
DNS and be generally relevant to users?
- - would event.au be consistent with the existing .au 2LD hierarchy
and otherwise compliant with auDA policies?

and

(ii) its view that conf.au should be closed down.

***

Obviously, this isn't a good outcome for us but the process isn't
over yet.  The Panel are seeking feedback on the proposal via a survey:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/3GWKKM9

I would strongly urge all Linux Australia members with an interest
in maintaining the conf.au 2LD fill out the survey indicating their
support for the domain.

The Council will also formulate a formal response to the proposal
which will be discussed at the next meeting.

Thanks

James Turnbull

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