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Did the Names Policy Panel & Ausregistry get it wrong?

snoopy

Top Contributor
If you read the names policy panel report 2015 and Ausregistry's well publicised arguments there is little doubt key reasons for bringing .au was following .uk, .nz and the threat of ntlds. Those factors seem to account for 50% of what NPP said as to why .au should be brought in (other arguments were shortness and choice)

https://www.auda.org.au/assets/pdf/2015npp-final-report.pdf

On .uk and .nz

Some evidence that shorter names are more attractive to registrants can be seen in .uk and .nz, both of which introduced direct registrations in mid‐2014. Monthly .nz statistics suggest that there is a shift underway from 2LDs to direct .nz names (although the figures are variable month‐on‐month)2. A similar trend is visible in .uk, where total registrations under 2LDs have declined by approximately 95,000 since January 2015, while direct registrations have increased by approximately 180,0003.....................

On ntlds

It has also been suggested that as more people get used to being able to register domain names directly at the second level in an increasing number of ccTLDs and new gTLDs, over time it will become more confusing for users if the Australian namespace remains the “odd one out”.

The Panel has considered whether the creation of hundreds of new gTLDs through the current ICANN process is having, or will have, a major impact on the “.au brand”. Whilst the introduction of new gTLDs is significant, it is not of itself a reason to introduce changes to .au. It was felt that the .au namespace stands on its own merits, at least as far as Australian registrants and users are concerned.

Ausregistry was even more blunt,

2015

No matter how you spin it, the introduction of new Top-Level Domains has created increased competition.

https://www.ausregistry.com.au/product-innovation-will-produce-the-next-3-million-au-domains/

Ausregistry's viewpoint now seems to have changed...........

2017

In terms of gTLDs, early indications in global trends suggest new gTLDs, although still with very small market shares are not impacting the ccTLDs greatly (at least in terms of volume).

https://www.ausregistry.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/BTD_Issue_11.pdf

Overall: With the benefit of hindsight & given everything that has happen since that report came out,

  • new data on .uk (no real growth)
  • nz (total growth rate has dropped from 10% before the change to under 4% now)
  • ntlds (even Ausregistry now admit they aren't competing much with cctlds and most people would describe them in far worse terms)

Is it fair to say the NPP basically got it wrong?
 

neddy

Top Contributor
Ausregistry's viewpoint now seems to have changed...........

2017

https://www.ausregistry.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/BTD_Issue_11.pdf

Overall: With the benefit of hindsight & given everything that has happen since that report came out,

  • new data on .uk (no real growth)
  • nz (total growth rate has dropped from 10% before the change to under 4% now)
  • ntlds (even Ausregistry now admit they aren't competing much with cctlds and most people would describe them in far worse terms)

Is it fair to say the NPP basically got it wrong?
The 4 dissenting members of the NPP didn't get it wrong. And yes, I was one of those. ;) The other 3 were respected lawyers (2 of whom are auDRP / UDRP panelists).

If truth be known, there were more members that would have dissented had they not been coerced in way way or the other. And then you had a couple of members of the NPP that probably shouldn't have voted because of straight out conflicts of interest. No way was there a proper two-thirds consensus in my opinion.

"The recommendation to allow direct registrations is supported by a substantial majority of Panel
members – more than the required two‐thirds consensus – and by most responses to the two public
consultations. Four dissenting Panel members have submitted a minority report at Attachment B."

Here is the 4 page Minority Report as an attachment. Believe me when I tell you that we had to modify this report (water it down) to even get it included. How ridiculous is that type of censorship?
 

Attachments

  • Minority Report NPP 2015.pdf
    61.5 KB · Views: 2

snoopy

Top Contributor
If truth be known, there were more members that would have dissented had they not been coerced in way way or the other. And then you had a couple of members of the NPP that probably shouldn't have voted because of straight out conflicts of interest. No way was there a proper two-thirds consensus in my opinion.

"The recommendation to allow direct registrations is supported by a substantial majority of Panel
members – more than the required two‐thirds consensus – and by most responses to the two public
consultations. Four dissenting Panel members have submitted a minority report at Attachment B."

So do you feel there was pressure applied to people to vote in favour? Do you think this was coming from people with "commercial interests" or something else?
 

neddy

Top Contributor
So do you feel there was pressure applied to people to vote in favour? Do you think this was coming from people with "commercial interests" or something else?

Yes; yes.

I added a sentence to my last post - you probably didn't see this.

"Believe me when I tell you that we had to modify this report (water it down) to even get it included. How ridiculous is that type of censorship?"
 

snoopy

Top Contributor
A few more comments from the past, in particular the "threat" of ntlds that was promoted heavily by Ausregistry. In my view Ausregistry was simply too close to the page on ntlds, even suggesting Racing Victoria could use a .horse domain. What I mean by that is that when you are trying to sell something day in day out (like ntlds) you can fall into the trap of believing what you are selling is way more significant than it really is,

By Adrian Kinderis, CEO, ARI Registry Services, PUBLISHED ON AUGUST 15TH, 2014
.com .gone
.............
Hundreds of new domain name suffixes such as .menu, .monash and .sydney are being added to the Internet alongside the familiar .com, offering individuals and businesses like Racing Victoria greater domain name availability, choice and innovation.

Unlike the meaningless and unintuitive .com, these new domain names allow for a clear and descriptive signpost that lets your audience know exactly what your business is about even before they land on your website. They provide an affinity to a geographic location or market vertical that .com is unable to do.

Another option would be .melbourne. Country-level geographic locators such as .au, .nz and .uk have helped organise the Internet and now we have the option to take this to the city-level. I’m not saying racing.melbourne or horses.melbourne is appropriate, but it would be somewhat more specific.

There is also a .horse Top-Level Domain and almost 1,400 other options that will become available over the next year.

The fact is, the launch and use of these new domain names will soon make the purchase of half-million dollar .com domain names look silly.

https://www.ariservices.com/blog/is-racing-com-a-half-million-dollar-mistake-for-racing-victoria/
 

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