This seems to have been big news in Sydney - not sure whether it's made news nationally

http://www.yourformal.com.au/

This reminds me of one of the arguments we had at the Names Policy Panel - I was advocating a relaxation of the ABN rules for com.au and net.au

I strongly believe that Australian citizens are not catered for properly in .au - a theory supported by the fact that 95% of personal Australian blogs are hosted on gTLDs.

However this was refuted with the two main points:

1) they can use id.au
2) the ABN restriction keeps the namespace secure from scams etc

Do you think that's the case here? Does the fact that an ABN was used when registering the domain help the police to track down the perpetrators or would they be better speaking to the customers or chasing up the banks to find where payment was made etc?

Also, how easy is it for a determined scammer to just put a random ABN in there?

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Yes , it is easy to register a domain without proving ABN being supplied is valid.
I had my {name}.com.au registered using my company ABN
Any site activity would have come back at me and my company even though site content and control was never mine.

Having ABN or ABN Validation should be Standard procedure.

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having an abn or state business number means nothing. If a breach of sale, breach of contract,crime is committed you don't need an abn, acn, etc to be prosecuted by police, Department of Fair Trading, Asic etc. It's totally irrelevant to them and does not in any way make it more secure for anyone. This is a total myth having people use an abn, acn trademark etc for domain names safeguards people any more than not requiring it.

There are tens of thousands of companies , abn holders etc with bad debts, complaints against them for business practices etc.

auDA has responsibility to administer the au namespace. They are not internet or business " police" nor whould anyone expect them to be.

It will not be auDA who investigates yourformal.com.au and has nothing to do with auDA policy.

Having an ABN or ACN is totally irrelevant. It means nothing but red tape for registrants. Making people register a .com.au name with an abn, acn, trademark etc offers absolutely no added protection for anyone and it never has.

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/all-bling-...116-1nig7.html

How did or does auDA policy of making people use an abn or acn, traemark to get a .com.au domain name help protect people exactly?

Clearly in this example it shows how irrelevant this domain name registrant eligibility policy requirement is.

a whois search of the domain name shows a still valid website , acn number etc!

This was in the local paper too the other day, seemed like a pretty big thing...

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Scamming has been occurring since Day 1 ever since Eve got told a real whopper and convinced Adam it was OK .

The internet is not immune to this behaviour.
auDA and registrars can only act on the "Good Faith" and perceived Bona Fides
of any domain purchased.
ACMA & State FairTrading Depts. can act against any website owner with "dodgy" centent.

However they can only act if there are complaints and there is sufficient evidence for prosecution.


However it only takes 2 minutes to think up another DodgyDeal.com.au and start again.

Personally on this particular occasion, I think it is a case of spoiled BRAT kids and their STUPID parents with WAY TOO MUCH MONEY.
Ripe pickings. I just don't get this whole spend a small fortune on a school Formal. I couldn't wait to finish school and never look back.
99.99% of the students (i.e. all the REST) and ALL the teachers were people I never wished to meet, socialize with or even acknowledge for the rest of my life.
Thankfully I have been able to avoid all of them until now 40+ years later.

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Managing Million Dollar Sites since 2004

Yes blame the kids and call their parents stupid...

I enjoyed my Formal and speaking with old friends they unanimously agree it was a great time. All students should have the luxury of having a good Formal memory. Not sure why you are so bitter or against that. Just sounds like a sad rant?

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ouch!...lol

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Maybe I should have added 99.99% of the students and all the teachers were glad to see the last of me as well.
I accept that a nice social dance and speech night is needed by some, but not the BS Stretch limo's and multi-thousand dollars spent per couple.

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Managing Million Dollar Sites since 2004