Is AUDA competent to run the registry?

[snoopy]

Backstory: I was in the car the other day driving to a place called "Flippin Pancakes" (I used to order the chicken and mushroom crepes). My wife goes to their website to ring them and make a booking.

She gets to the website. It's changed!



http://www.flippinpancakes.com.au

2 days later I notice a cafe I used to go to, Bambaleros has closed (used to do some fine Chicken Nachos).

I look for their website to find out if they have moved, it redirects to a new site,



http://www.bambaleros.com.au

AUDA likes to promote the fact that it took down 1000 sites recently, but it seems to me there must be tens of thousands of sites out there with stolen ABN details selling counterfeit shoes? Are they monitoring what happens to dropping names on an ongoing basis? Seems not.

So whilst AUDA spend money hiring teams of lawyers to fight with their own members damage is being done to the reputation of .com.au as hoards of Chinese counterfeiters take advantage of AUDA's failings.

So the question is this: If AUDA can't even do their job as regulator properly what sort of job are they going to do if in charge of the registry. Will it even be stable?

I've been in favour of AUDA taking over the registry but I'm really starting to wonder if they should be anywhere near it?

 

[Lemon]

I have spent 15 minutes trying to work out how to register a .com.au domain with Public Domain Registry (PDR). I have no idea.
Perhaps auDA should be reviewing their Registrar Accreditation and ensure they still comply.
Doing a google of "Public Domain Registry" brings up some worrying results.
I think this is a prime example of auDA proving they can regulate .au
Let's see some action auDA

 

[snoopy]

By the way I voted "unsure" with the poll. I don't really know if AUDA is competent to be running it. A change is needed but I'd be nervous about the transition if AUDA was in charge.

 

[Scott.L]

Picture this, some idiot trips on a lead and pulls the plug on the DNS.

 

[Lemon]

Assuming they know what the DNS is.

 

[Scott.L]

Hey bob whats DNS mean?
Do Not Slip

 

[Lemon]

Hey bob whats DNS mean?
Do Not Slip

You are killing me. Best ever.
Scott for Chairman of the Board !!!!!

 

[snoopy]

Update on this.

One site still running (registry status: ok) and the other in pending delete.
http://www.flippinpancakes.com.au

Does AUDA have any real strategy to deal with this?

 

[snoopy]

Ned has a good article on UBU's today,

http://www.domainer.com.au/ubus-are-cash-cows

In particular highlighting that most of these registrations are from only 2 overseas registrars.

 

[snoopy]

Thought for the day.
Would .AU growth rate be 0% or negative without UBU's?

 

[DomainNames]

What are Ausregistry, auDA, auDA Board Directors doing to stop UBU'S?

A failure to properly secure and manage the .au namespace!

 

[snoopy]

What are Ausregistry, auDA, auDA Board Directors doing to stop UBU'S?

A failure to properly secure and manage the .au namespace!

They are doing nothing more than slapping a few wrists. The business models works for Auda and by deleting some but not preventing the problem it works even better as the payment cycle starts again.

 

[Scott.L]

ChaChing
Knock, Knock
Who is it?
Australian Federal Police, we're here to collect 16 years worth of profit from proceeds of crime.
Just one Minute...
footsteps down stairs, door closes, engine starts, sound of car slowly disappearing

 

[DomainNames]

ChaChing
Knock, Knock
Who is it?
Australian Federal Police, we're here to collect 16 years worth of profit from proceeds of crime.
Just one Minute...
footsteps down stairs, door closes, engine starts, sound of car slowly disappearing

To any auDA Staff or Directors reading.. CUT the overseas trips, sideshows at press conferences with the PM and focus on fixing the existing .au name space!

Your current inaction on fixing issues such as this hurt the ,au name space security and .au name space reputation!

 

[Shane]

Your current inaction on fixing issues such as this hurt the ,au name space security and .au name space reputation!

I can't agree more.

As Ned quoted in his article on Domainer, the CEO said the following just last month:

"It is the simple premise that if any consumer goes to a dot au website, they can have confidence that that dot au website represents exactly what it should be. That the policy settings; that the adherence to policy; that the relationship with the registry and registrars is absolutely correct and robust; that we are maintaining stability, integrity and trust in the domain name system."

That's what so many of us love about .au. Sure some of the regulations add to red tape, but historically there has always been a feeling of safety when interacting with a .au website.

These scammers are stuffing this up for everyone, and as Sean said, it's hurting the security and reputation of the .au space.

I hope that something is underway behind the scenes at auDA to help sort this mess out properly.

 

[snoopy]

That's what so many of us love about .au. Sure some of the regulations add to red tape, but historically there has always been a feeling of safety when interacting with a .au website.

These scammers are stuffing this up for everyone, and as Sean said, it's hurting the security and reputation of the .au space.

I hope that something is underway behind the scenes at auDA to help sort this mess out properly.

Agree, and that confidence people had is being eroded. All that red tape that at the moment doesn't seem to work aside from preventing legitimate registrants from using .com.au's (e.g. Australian individuals/startups without an ABN).

 

[Scott.L]

The UBU issue goes to show how valuable the .au is as a restricted space, scammers generally will not bother if it were not equitable to hack. Removing these policy restrictions would only devalue the .au, it is surprising that in 16 years of having this policy that previous boards have not commissioned a type of software system for registries, or they have not implemented (or thought to implement) a type of domain key for registrants that authorizes the use of an ABN. (to that effect) auDA is meant to be at the forefront of regulatory and administrative technology, I often think they are still using filing cabinets and rubber stamps to process domain transfers.

 

[snoopy]

Here is a prior article on the whole issue from last year, highlighting the fact that it is very hard to even get AUDA to act on a complaint. A couple of weeks after that article was published I notice there was one late comment,

http://www.domainer.com.au/does-auda-care-about-scammers-owning-aussie-domains/

Adrian says
October 27, 2016 at 10:12 pm

Ohh damn,
i ordered from these thieves Over a week ago and still haven’t heard back from them.
who do I now contact to try get my money back?!?!?

The is the real world effect of these sites, and the other side of the coin to all the money AUDA and the registry/registrars are making from this practice, Australian consumers being scammed into buying counterfeit shoes.

 

[Scott.L]

The is the real world effect of these sites, and the other side of the coin to all the money AUDA and the registry/registrars are making from this practice, Australian consumers being scammed into buying counterfeit shoes.

Yeah, from companies pretending to have authorizations or licences that they do not have a right to use.

 

[DomainNames]

I can't agree more.

As Ned quoted in his article on Domainer, the CEO said the following just last month:

"It is the simple premise that if any consumer goes to a dot au website, they can have confidence that that dot au website represents exactly what it should be. That the policy settings; that the adherence to policy; that the relationship with the registry and registrars is absolutely correct and robust; that we are maintaining stability, integrity and trust in the domain name system."

That's what so many of us love about .au. Sure some of the regulations add to red tape, but historically there has always been a feeling of safety when interacting with a .au website.

These scammers are stuffing this up for everyone, and as Sean said, it's hurting the security and reputation of the .au space.

I hope that something is underway behind the scenes at auDA to help sort this mess out properly.

Good luck getting onto the auDA Board. Please ask them what is their solution and post it here. It should first on the agenda for auDA, Auregistry and the auDA Board.

I guess auDA etc need some more media to get active and ask them on the radio and newspapers, online ?

I can't wait for the CEO's spin on this..

Maybe Ausgistry can come out and make the claim it is important to keep .au wholesale pricing high to stop scammers again? PURE B.S.

I have no doubt much of the money used to register the names is also fraudulent or why does auDA/ Ausregistry not involve the Police etc?