.com.au Allocation Rules
Contents
Historical Background
Introduction
Types of Commercial Entities
Allocation Rules
Licence Rules
Dispute Resolution
Acknowledgment and Warranties
On 8 October 1996 the administrator of
the .au domain space, Mr. Robert Elz, formally granted Melbourne IT a licence
for the administration of the com.au domain. One of the licence conditions
is to not vary Mr Elz's pre-October 1996 policy for the acceptance or rejection
of com.au domain name applications without gaining endorsement for the
changes from an appropriate Internet community body.
Since November 96 Melbourne IT has twice
received endorsement for the fine tuning of the original policy:
-
In February 1997 from the INTIAA DNS forum,
to substitute the general rejection of all common words by rejection of
more specific classes of words, such as gazetted place names and generic
products (goods or services); and
-
In January 1998 from the ADNA Board, to use
the Yellow Pages Index as its guide when interpreting the com.au policy
to reject "generic words describing products (goods or services)".
The com.au domain exists to enable commercial
entities, currently registered and trading in Australia to have an Internet
address (domain name) that is closely aligned with their commercial name.
The com.au domain is a listing service.
It provides a distinct 1:1 correlation between a domain name and an applicant's
registered commercial name. The com.au domain is a policy-driven domain.
Some names, such as place names or names of goods or services, will not
be licensed for use as com.au domain names.
This document is the current policy for
administering the com.au domain, and replaces previous versions of the
General (Naming) Policy. This document contains the rules for the administration
of the com.au domain, and in particular those that determine the acceptance
or rejection of a com.au domain name application.
Only commercial entities registered and
trading in Australia will be allocated a com.au domain name. Applicants
registering company and business names to obtain particular domain names
should be aware of:
-
Existing State and federal legislation that
governs the registration of company and business names,
-
The requirements of this policy for an actual
trading entity, and
-
Section 4.3 Revoking a domain name licence.
The following table lists commercial entities
that meet the charter of com.au. To register a domain name for an entity
not listed in the table, you will need to demonstrate:
That you have the rights to the commercial name, or
That the commercial entity is registered with a recognized Government or industry authority.
| Type of Entity
|
Identified by
|
Authority
|
| Companies (including foreign companies
registered to trade in Australia) |
ACN (or ARBN for foreign companies) |
Australian Securities Commission |
| Registered Business Names |
Registered Business Number |
State Government Registries |
| Incorporated Associations |
Association Number |
State Government Registries |
| Commercial Statutory Bodies |
Act of Parliament |
Federal or State Parliament |
| Financial Institutions |
Financial Institution Code |
State Government Commissions |
| Registered Superannuation Funds |
Fund Number |
Insurance and Superannuation Commission |
|
Complete and
Correct Details
Single Domain
Name per Commercial Entity
Composition of
a com.au Domain Name
Uniqueness and
Similarity
Allocation of
Domain Names
Direct Derivation
Australian Place
Names
"Generic" Words
Offensive or
Obscene Domain Names
These rules govern the licensing of com.au
domain names. As these rules are applied, com.au domain name applications
that do not meet the requirements here will be declined.
Complete and correct details must be provided
with each and every application. Agents (for example, Internet Service
Providers) who apply for domain names on behalf of their clients must not
place themselves as the administrative contact.
Only one domain name is licensed per registered
commercial name. Organizations with more than one registered commercial
name (for example, a company with several registered trading names) can
apply for one com.au domain name for each registered trading name.
A com.au domain name must:
Be at least two characters long
Contain only letters (a-z), numbers (0-9)and hyphens or a combination of these
Start and end with an alphanumeric character, not a hyphen.
No two com.au domain names can be exactly
the same (e.g. there can be only one xyz.com.au). No test is made to ensure:
-
That the same or a similar domain name already
exists in another domain (e.g. net.au, .com)
-
That the domain name is not too similar to
an existing registered com.au (or other domain) domain name, such as
-
the plural or singular form of a word or phrase.
com.au domain names are licensed to applicants
on a "first-come, first-served" basis. There is no provision for queuing
of applications. If a domain name is already licensed, or if an application
is pending for that name, no further applications will be accepted for
that name until the name is either revoked or the pending application declined.
If an application is declined (or a domain
name removed), the pending entry is removed from the AUNIC registry and
the domain name is immediately available.
Applicants can use either their complete
commercial name, or an abbreviation. When an abbreviation is requested:
-
The domain name can only be derived from the
characters contained in the commercial name,
-
Characters can be removed from the commercial
name to create the domain name, but the sequence of the characters cannot
be altered, and
-
New characters (that do not appear in the
commercial name) cannot be introduced to the domain name.
Australian place names and their common
abbreviations are overly representative (i.e. representing all commerce
for a particular community or in a geographic region) and will not be licensed
for use as com.au domain names. Some examples are in the table below.
| Place
|
Example Names
|
Common abbreviation
|
| This country |
Australia |
au, aus, oz |
| States and Territories |
Queensland, Victoria |
qld, vic, act, nsw |
| Regions |
Gippsland |
| Local Government Areas |
Stonnington |
| Suburbs |
Paddington |
|
Words that represent commercial categories
or sectors are overly representative and will not be licensed for use as
com.au domain names. Some examples are in the table below.
|
Commercial Category
|
Description
|
Examples
|
| Products, services and professions |
Any generic word that is defined and used
to represent products, services or professions. Typically, these are words
that appear in an Australian word list (e.g. The Macquarie Dictionary)
and also in a commercial category listing (e.g. The Yellow Pages Index®). |
cars, accounting, solicitor, weddings,
manager, hifi, winery |
| Industries, industry sectors and organisation
types |
Any word that represents an industry,
industry sector or organisation type. |
mining, finance, company, bank |
| N.B. multiple-word phrases
such as 'pressrelease' or 'wedding-car-hire' are allowed. |
|
It has been the policy of INA to reject
domain names, which by themselves or as part of a name or word, by normally
accepted standards are unacceptable because they are obscene, offensive
or contrary to public policy. Until such time as a new regulatory body
of the .au domain space has been able to determine policy in this area,
INA intends to continue to adopt a conservative policy with regard to registration
of such names.
4.1 Licence Period and Renewal
The initial licence period for a com.au
domain name is two years. The licence to use the com.au domain name can
be renewed at the end of each licence period, subject to the current terms
and conditions. The administrator will contact licensees (or their agents)
when the domain name licence requires renewal.
The licence to use the com.au domain name
cannot be transferred or sold to another party.
The licence to use the com.au domain name
can be terminated for reasons outlined in the table below.
| Reason
|
Description
|
| Fee not paid |
Where the prescribed fee is not paid within
the required time |
| Breach of warranty |
Where the warranty supplied by the applicant
or their agent is breached |
| Incorrect info |
Where misleading, incomplete or incorrect
information is supplied in the application |
| Court decision |
Where a court of competent authority determines
that the domain name should not be licensed to the current licensee, be
removed from the registry, or be licensed to another party |
| Name Change |
Where the commercial name used by the
licensee to obtain the domain name is changed, or if the licence to use
the registered commercial name ceases. |
| Instruction |
Where instructed by the current licensee
of the domain name |
| Error |
Where a domain name which could not otherwise
be registered under this policy is registered through mistake, oversight
or otherwise (within thirty days of registering the domain name):
The administrator may send notice (of not less than thirty days) stating the
intention to cancel the registration, and stating the reasons for the proposed
cancellation
The administrator may remit the fee payable for the new domain name in place of
the cancelled domain ame
|
|
Disputes over com.au domain names are
resolved via the procedure outlined below. This procedure applies to both
declined com.au domain name applications, and disputes over already-licensed
com.au domain names.
|
Stage
|
Description
|
| Notice |
The originator of the dispute sends notice
of the dispute in writing to the administrator |
| Negotiation and conciliation |
The originator, the administrator and
any third parties must attempt to settle the dispute by negotiations and
conciliation. |
| Arbitration |
If the above attempts fail to settle the
dispute, the parties agree to refer the dispute to a commercial disputes
centre. All parties must agree to be bound by the ruling of the arbiter.
The costs of the dispute are borne by the originator. |
|
For the administration of the com.au domain,
reliance is placed upon the information and warranties supplied by applicants
or their agents. By applying for a com.au domain name, applicants:
-
Warrant that the information provided in the
application is complete, true and correct.
-
Warrant that the registration and/or use of
the com.au domain name does not breach any third party's rights (such as
those of a registered trademark holder).
-
Warrant that they have read and understood
this policy and proceed on the basis that this policy is legally binding.
-
Indemnify the administrator to the full extent
legally permitted against all claims and demands from third parties regarding
registration and use of the com.au domain name.
Return to Domain Name Registration
|
