Direct registrations are happening

[snoopy]

I'm not sure about anyone else here on the forum, but right now I am hesitant in purchasing anymore domains as I don't know what is happening regarding direct registrations.

It's really frustrating..
-Should I continue looking out, bid on names
-Save my money for up and coming auctions to protect my assets.
-Risk purchasing .com.au names, with a current registration date, fearing the .net.au holder precedence on .au

I hate all this uncertainty..

Bid less. Overall I think .au will fail but the uncertainty is going to sap money out of .com.au for a long time.

 

[neddy]

This uncertainty now is hindering (.com).au growth in the domain aftermarket, as well as new au domain registrations.

Erwin, whilst I am peed off at all this uncertainty, I am still finding the aftermarket excellent. I've had one of my best weeks in terms of enquiries / sales.

As I wrote on my blog today, it's probably because most people out there don't have a clue what's happening with direct registrations.

 

[DomainNames]

What is the latest on the new proposed .au extension implementation? How can existing .com.au registrants be assured their IP is safe

I am very sure companies like Carsales.com.au News.com.au, Seek.com.au Realestate.com.au or any of the other existing 3 million .com.au registrants will be very pissed off if they have to defend register the new proposed .au extension just because Supply wants to make more money from additional domain name extension registration fees, renewal fees and other fees

I note a lot more propaganda from "supply" including in the behind the dot magazine Channel talk ( SUPPLY) when talking about the new proposed .au extension will be;

"considered as being the primary domain name for new businesses starting in or entering the Australian market. This will not only propel .au into the future but also cement the importance of .au domain names to Australian in the global domain name space."​

So new businesses can get the .au extension can they? How about the existing .com.au registrants rights?

AND AGAIN a full page promotion story for the push of the un needed new .au extension.
"Direct registrations continue .au's historic innovation.........."

The clear fact is Supply and others want to bring in the new .au extension to make more money. They want the registration renewal and change of registrant fee cash cow to keep giving. They are not happy with their existing massive money they make from the registration, renewals and change of registrant fees.. they have pushed with deliberate propaganda and marketing an agenda to create a false demand of the "innovative" .au. Innovative.... seriously?

Existing.com,.au registrants need to be protected. Many have spent vast amounts of time and money to secure their .com.au name and the poor way the un needed proposed .au is being handled is very concerning. Every existing registrant should be very concerned but of course most do not know because no one has emailed them to tell them and explain it clearly and in full inclduing the added costs, risks of IP disputes, marketing confusion, customer confusion etc!

Where is the transparency of the proposed .au implementation?

Why do 3 million existing .com.au registrants not even know about the risk the new proposed .au extension poses to them?

Does "supply" really want to make domain names names such as these and everything available to anyone or will the .com.au owners be blackmailed and scared into registering them and paying even more every year on renewals etc. Carsales.au, Realestate.au, News.au, RSVP.au, Seek.au, Dntrade.au, Melbourneit.au, Ausregistry.au, Domainnames.au, Cars.au, Boats.au, HealthInsurance.au, Loans,au, Jobs.au, Travel.au, Stayz.au, Electricity.au, Hardware.au, MalcolmTurbull.au

How can auDA allow an auDA supply registrar member to send out Yes only Vote survey solicitations at the last minute which stacked the yes survey decision results to allow the new .au extension? Seriously?

 

[DomainNames]

How about auDA emails every existing Australian registrant and asks them if the new.au extension is even needed and in this email survey it also clearly states;

• Who can apply for the new .au extension
  
• The cost of the new .au extension
• How long people have to register the .au if they are given any default rights to it
• the new direct .UK extension was default reserved for 5 years to the existing .co.uk registrant
• How the new .au extension will affect the existing registrants rights, business, value, stress, IP disputes, marketing / branding, ongoing increased renewal fees etc
• How much money auDA makes from every Australian domain name registration, renewal and change of registrant COR
  
• How much Ausregistry / Neustar Inc. ( USA ? ) makes from every Australian domain name registration, renewal and change of registrant COR
  
• How much Icann makes from every Australian domain name registration, renewal and change of registrant COR
• Why auDA has $10 million in the bank from Australian registration, renewal and change of registrant, supply, fees
  
• Why a USA "supply" company now has access to every Australian domain name registrants information. For Australian national security reasons should this even be allowed?
• Why does auDA have a foundation?
• Why does auDA run award nights?
• Why have auDA expenses increased so much each year?
• What is auDA's original purpose it proposed to the Australian Commonwealth government
• When does the next tender go out to manage the Australian domain space? Is it 2017? Will it be a public open tender this time?
• Why such lavish expensive Christmas parties? Is it needed for a not for profit? Does it help to perform the task auDA was given responsibility to do by the Australian Government years ago?
• Does "supply" have more power than "demand" in policy decisions. Did "Supply" push for their own commercial reasons the need for the new proposed .au extension.

 

[Lorenzo]

I knew it would happen!!!
And years ago, right in this forum, I told you it will.
I remember some people replied saying it would never happen...and there you go.

 

[Honan]

I knew it would happen!!!
And years ago, right in this forum, I told you it will.
I remember some people replied saying it would never happen...and there you go.

It has not happened yet, Lorenzo
When it does happen, I will congratulate you on your correct prediction

 

[Lorenzo]

It has not happened yet, Lorenzo
When it does happen, I will congratulate you on your correct prediction

oh...well no need to congratulate...it just makes sense, even the UK did it.

 

[findtim]

even the UK did it.

if johnny jumped off a cliff..........................

tim

 

[DomainNames]

if johnny jumped off a cliff..........................

tim

It backfired for Hong Kong! Short term profit gains for registry and registrars left people to drop registering and renewing domain names as official registration statistics proves.

Both .com.hk and .hk registrations / renewals have dropped by around 50% since .hk direct extension was introduced.

auDA, Ausregistry and Registrars including those who sent out YES ONLY VOTE SURVEYS may wish to really think what they are pushing for and the consequences for their own income and the rights and market effect on the domain name registrants. Don't bite the hand that feeds you!

https://www.hkdnr.hk/content.jsp?id=194#!/&in=/aboutHK/registration_statistics_hkdnr.jsp
01-Jul-11 80602 .com.hk 14480 .HK
01-Jul-16 49118 .com.uk 9842 .hk

 

[DomainNames]

In my opinion the key is to register only the best .com.au names. Let your questionable names drop now or you may be up for double registration and renewal costs at a minimum just to protect your IP rights and investment, branding etc.

If you want a great .com.au look for it on the aftermarket websites or contact the existing owner directly and make some offers. Pay more to get the best name possible and forget junk names. No use registering or renewing lots of names with doubtful value. This is the situation auDA, Ausregistry and some Registrars have created now.

Focus on the best 1 or two word .com.au generics, some 2/3 letters and numbers also seem worth looking at.

 

[DomainNames]

If people have not read it or need a refresher!
http://www.domainer.com.au/justifying-the-end-result/

"Comments and survey responses were due by the 30th September, 2015. The Melbourne IT group (NetRegistry, ZipHosting, TPPWholesale, Netfleet, MelbourneIT etc) sent out a mass email to their extensive customer base on Friday 25th September.

I have two views on this. First, good on them for engaging their customer base (I wish I had their mailing list!); but second, I’m disappointed that they chose to so blatantly gloss up all the benefits. Not one mention of any potential negatives or disadvantages (like extra cost etc.).

And to top it off, the Call to Action was “Simply click YES for all questions. Vote now”.

You be the judge though. If you got this email, and you’d never heard a thing about what was going on, what would you do?​

"

 

[snoopy]

In my opinion the key is to register only the best .com.au names. Let your questionable names drop now or you may be up for double registration and renewal costs at a minimum just to protect your IP rights and investment, branding etc.

If you want a great .com.au look for it on the aftermarket websites or contact the existing owner directly and make some offers. Pay more to get the best name possible and forget junk names. No use registering or renewing lots of names with doubtful value. This is the situation auDA, Ausregistry and some Registrars have created now.

Focus on the best 1 or two word .com.au generics, some 2/3 letters and numbers also seem worth looking at.

I think the best thing people can do is avoid .com.au. The market will be screwed for a long time I suspect. As an example .co.uk seems to have suffered a medium-long term fall. The highest sales were mostly 5-10 years ago. Don't know that there has been any recovery from it.

 

[DomainNames]

I think the best thing people can do is avoid .com.au. The market will be screwed for a long time I suspect. As an example .co.uk seems to have suffered a medium-long term fall. The highest sales were mostly 5-10 years ago. Don't know that there has been any recovery from it.

The best .com.au generic names will always have great value.
.net.au will drop massively
It seems a lot of pro new .au extension supply people are misreading the world results of .nz and .co.uk and probably have not registered or learnt the truth of what happened and what is happening now . They need to also read .sg, .hk .ph etc. Supply registrars in those countries have admitted their stuff up and scrambled with buy 1 get both etc etc. They shot themselves in the foot and are now making less money on registrations and renewals!

Also note countries such as Philippines do FREE COR Change of Registrant, the registration is transferred to the new registrant using the remaining domain name period ... No costs charged by the administration body or registrars. Australians have been overpaying for too long for COR Change of Registrant. yes it can be done without a new registration and it can be done without cost if auDA, Ausregistry and registrars really want to do it....

 

[snoopy]

The best .com.au generic names will always have great value.
.net.au will drop massively
It seems a lot of pro new .au extension supply people are misreading the world results of .nz and .co.uk and probably have not registered or learnt the truth of what happened and what is happening now . They need to also read .sg, .hk .ph etc. Supply registrars in those countries have admitted their stuff up and scrambled with buy 1 get both etc etc. They shot themselves in the foot and are now making less money on registrations and renewals!

Also note countries such as Philippines do FREE COR Change of Registrant, the registration is transferred to the new registrant using the remaining domain name period ... No costs charged by the administration body or registrars. Australians have been overpaying for too long for COR Change of Registrant. yes it can be done without a new registration and it can be done without cost if auDA, Ausregistry and registrars really want to do it....

Personally I think Ausregistry and registrars have not much to lose, they'll double double the reg fees on some names. Think this is going to harm .com.au to some degree but if I were a registrar or registry I'd push for .au because of the double taxation effect. The wrong people are in charge of the ship (the AUDA board), that is the problem as I see it.

 

[DomainNames]

Personally I think Ausregistry and registrars have not much to lose, they'll double double the reg fees on some names. Think this is going to harm .com.au to some degree but if I were a registrar or registry I'd push for .au because of the double taxation effect. The wrong people are in charge of the ship (the AUDA board), that is the problem as I see it.

If you look at registration and reneal figures for other countries you will see a decline in both extensions after the initial period. Look at Hong Kong again above. It depends if the registrars etc want to make profit for a few years or for the next 10 or 20...

i agree auDA should look seriously at the push from Supply, If auDA board members etc should be able to send out Yes Only vote solicitations which sway results etc.

Let's hope we can start to see a lot more true transparency and true surveying, feedback and input. ALL registrants need to be emailed by auDA and given the full range of implications, costs, asked if they want to have to defend register another extension at more costs etc.

Who is in charge of implementation? Who is deciding the time frame, eligibility, costs etc etc. Will it be left to the Supply board members or parties who can make a commercial profit from it?

auDA needs to stop board members or associated entities from any form of propaganda. It might be ok if the propaganda included the potential added costs, risks or IP and domain name disputes, full disclaimers including how much the entity will make from the new .au extension registration, renewal and change of registrant per name etc.

The above example Yes only vote survey seems to be a clear case of conflict of interest in my opinion. I am not sure how and why auDA allowed it or what auDA has done about it?

 

[Lorenzo]

FYI...if I did not get here, I had no clue about this happening.
VentraIP did not inform me. Should they?

 

[Lorenzo]

realestate.au will be mine (REA will certainly forget to apply lol)
no questions there

 

[findtim]

FYI...if I did not get here, I had no clue about this happening

that has seemed to be the way they want it
tim

 

[snoopy]

If you look at registration and reneal figures for other countries you will see a decline in both extensions after the initial period. Look at Hong Kong again above. It depends if the registrars etc want to make profit for a few years or for the next 10 or 20...

Hong Kong sounds like an extreme example to me, I'm guessing there are other factors at play with that one.

If you look at .uk there is growth happening but the split between the extensions. .co.uk is in decline, .uk is growing, but with hardly any volume and possibly a lot to do with people delaying the original registrations because the name could be kept on hold. Also .uk volumes of new registrations are falling and have been for some time, last month was a record low. So .uk is seeing lower number of new registrations and .co.uk the whole thing is shrinking. The same thing seems to be playing out in the .uk aftermarket, .co.uk weakening whilst .uk hardly has any volume.

http://www.nominet.uk/news/reports-statistics/uk-register-statistics-2014/
http://www.nominet.uk/news/reports-statistics/uk-register-statistics-2015/
http://www.nominet.uk/news/reports-statistics/uk-register-statistics-2016/

I don't know if registries/registrars are better off or not. The tld is to a degree stuffed up to get that 6% volume increase. They'll never be able to get rid of the confusion issues now though and businesses no longer have a clear choice, the damage isn't reversible.

Best thing people can do is not bother with .com.au in my view. Things are going to be not good for a long time. The main beneficiary of all this will be .com in my view. .Com.au works because it is dominant, if that element gets degraded with .au then I suspect some will also be considering .com where they never would have in the past.

NEW REGISTRATIONS IN THE MONTH

2014 .co.uk .uk
June 124,620 99,276
July 124,290 31,150
August 114,513 25,136
September 120,414 19,890
October 128,502 26,660
November 118,980 20,663
December 95,170 14,405
2015
January 133,833 19,216
February 128,653 18,123
March 132,351 17,962
April 116,303 16,138
May 118,724 16,811
June 117,874 30,615
July 124,861 32,920
August 119,997 15,824
September 128,335 23,401
October 132,192 24,231
November 121,037 35,118
December 97,271 36,296
2016
January 141,201 27,858
February 138,048 15,572
March 129,482 16,376
April 128,759 19,469
May 123,419 17,212
June 120,274 18,205
July 112,844 12,109

 

[neddy]

The latest Minutes from the auDA Board Meeting held on 20th June make for interesting reading. I've read between the lines and made my own observations on Domainer.

What is readily apparent is that some of the accusations levelled over the past year about potential conflicts of interest from certain Directors appear on the face of it to have hit home. However, a couple of them still appear to want to have a dollar each way!

Item 13 is an interesting one. The auDA Board and management beat the drum about getting new members, and the minute we encourage everyone about joining up, we virtually get accused of branch stacking.

Not one mention in the Minutes of an implementation working group for direct registrations as was originally assured. What’s going on I wonder?