How's this for a range of emotions! I'm searching on MelbIT for a domain name, and suddenly I see mountainbikes.com.au is available! Couldn't be I thought. So I tried to reg on Hostess, but was unavailable.

Aah I thought - must be a glitch. But then I thought I'd try and reg on MelbIT, even if it does cost more dough. Signed up, and then attempted purchase. It went through - my poor heart can almost not handle it! I get emailed c/c receipt and confirmation etc, but then I see on the bottom it says "failed transaction".

So I phone them, and yes, terribly sorry, there is an error. "We will refund your c/c".

And believe it or not, 1 minute ago it is still showing as available on Melb IT!

See attachment.

Wouldn't be the first time its happened to me either, gets very frustrating when you see some awesome domains available and then you get the email giving you the bad news.

My Advice, when you see results that are too good to be true - don't forget to run a whois check. Regardless of what a registrar shows, there is nothing more definitive than the registry. If you are a mac user, just use the terminal app (in your network tools) - uber quick and works on all domain suffixes.

Also, if you have any experience with simple coding, take a look at this page. You can get availability responses (no whois data just Avail / Not Avail)

Whois-Based Domain Name Availability Check
http://whois.ausregistry.com.au/whoi...heck.jsp?tab=0

Systems currently relying on Whois Search for Domain Name Availability Checks can implement the following method to avoid the likelihood of blacklisting. The format of the request is a text string of the Domain Name followed by a `\r\n' as per a standard Whois request. The service will then respond with either the string `Available' or `Not Available' depending upon whether or not the domain is available for registration.
For Example

To check the availability of ausregistry.net.au follow these steps:

1. Connect to:
Address: whois-check.ausregistry.net.au
Port: 43
2. Send the string `ausregistry.net.au\r\n' to the server
3. The server will respond with `Not Available' and then close the connection.

The above procedure is compatible with standard Whois protocol; hence any reseller interface that is built to use Whois will be able to use this system as well.

Alternatively, the standard *nix whois command can be used as follows:

whois -h <server address> <domain name>

PLEASE NOTE - THIS SERVICE IS NOT SUBJECT TO THE REGULAR WHOIS SEARCH BLACKLISTING RULES. HOWEVER, EXCESSIVE USE OF THIS SERVICE MAY RESULT IN YOUR IP ADDRESS BEING BANNED AT AUSREGISTRY'S DISCRETION.

PS: when you have a list to register don't forget to use us at DROP.com.au for your registrations

https://www.drop.com.au/my_account/domainchecker.php

Best Regards,
George Pongas

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Hi George,

I'm old school - I knew that if it was too good to be true; I'd probably be right! But given that it was Melbourne IT, thought it would be worth a punt just in case. Nothing to lose, apart from $70 for a few days - and everything to gain.

Just as a matter of interest, it took MelbIt about 3 hours to remove the "available" tag on the listing. Is anyone from MelbIt a forum member?

With regards your technical advice, I'm afraid it is mumbo-jumbo to a troglodyte like me. But thank you anyway!

Cheers, Ned

Or you could build yourself a little application to scrape the whole WHOIS, including status info whilst hiding your identity using TOR and just hammer

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I'm sorry, but what you described above is a breach of Policy. I do not advocate engaging in such activities and my personal opinion is that taking this approach just forces auDA and our greater industry to look at the domaining space as being an illegitimate and negative blight of the .au domain space.

If we want to elevate the domaining world as a serious and legitimate business concern in .au - then we need to play by the rules and follow policy.

WHOIS Policy (2006-06)
Policy No: 2006-06
Publication Date: 19/11/2006
Status: Current
http://www.auda.org.au/policies/auda-2006-06/

The whois policy above was originally drafted to protect registrants from renewal scams. We have all seen the dodgy 'Domains Of America' emails and letters, and I have come in contact over the years with many people that paid hundreds of dollars for fake domain renewals.

Best Reagrds,
George Pongas

__________________
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DROP | Drop Catch Specialists.
http://www.drop.com.au

FabulousDomains | over 12,000 Premium com.au Domains!
http://www.FabulousDomains.com.au

You're quite right George. I was just having a little fun - I don't actually do this and in hindsight I probably shouldn't encourage others to do so.

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