I tend to agree with Ari (though I think sale of domain names should be allowed in
some cases, eg where someone buys a business and will continue trading).

Although said to have been registered before the restriction on generic names was
imposed by MelbourneIT, domains such as travel.com.au exist. Others apparently
cannot get the benefit of such names now. This seems unfair.

Something along the lines of Ari's solution addresses this unfairness to some
extent, for the benefit of those who cannot now register a "generic" domain name.

I agree the system should include a clear explanation of the procedure. Any
explanation should explain the history of the domain name rules - I have had to
explain this to numerous disgruntled would-be domain name owners because the
current system offers no explanation whatsoever for the existence of domains such
as travel.com.au

Mark Davidson

Partner
Marshall Marks Kennedy Lawyers
Ph:  61-2-9950 2600
Fax: 61-2-9950 2650
Email: davidson§mmk.com.au

"Aristedes Maniatis, ish group pty ltd" wrote:

> On Wed, 23 Jun 1999, 12:51:41 AM GMT George Michaelson wrote:
>
> >
> >Shaun, your question goes to the heart of the "real" issues in DNS governance
> >in Australia (and worldwide).
> >
> >Generics have large superficial attractions (mainly relating to the persuit
> >of income, creation of wealth, value in cash terms) and equally large
> problems
> >of scaling, and fairness, to say nothing of social equity and
> appropriateness.
> >
> >I do not think we as a group, or any DNS governance process can derive a
> >method that you will like in this area. To be more explicit, I can see no
> >reason why you should secure a generic domain name like this. I would expect
> >that any viable process would include suitable review and cooling off periods
> >such that you'd find a wider community of interest existed than just
> yourself.
> >
> >The Internet doesn't owe you a living. I suspect the Furniture manufacturers
> >of Australia, the Furniture makers of Australia, and other Furniture
> retailers
> >of Australia have equally compelling, if not better reasons to claim
> legitemate
> >ownership of this (and many similar) domain names.
>
> Where do you draw the line between generic names and others? Can the furniture
> trade register table.com.au or wood.com.au? How about furnitureshop.com.au?
>
> What if I have a business called "The Sydney Furniture Shop"? What do I
> register as my domain name?
>
> More importantly, why are these generic names restricted? What is the social,
> economic or moral rationale behind stopping registration of generic names when
> the state governments, Companies and Securities Commission, and other
> organisations do not prevent registration of generic business names.
>
> As I see it, the reasons to prevent any registration could be:
>
> 1- greed. We want to prevent people registering other people's business names
> and then blackmailing that company into buying the domain. This happened I
> believe with disney.com.
>
> 2- confusion/passing off. We don't want people registering names too close to
> others or deliberately misleading. eg. ddisney.com
>
> 3- preventing a pseudo monolopoly. Where a company registers furniture.com.au
> and the perception is that this will give that company an unfair advantage
> because ignorant users expect to be able to type in "furniture" into their
> browser and find what they need.
>
> The solutions:
>
> 1- Don't allow people to register names they do not trade under. Don't allow
> sale of domain names from one person to another. Both these are already in
> place as far as I am aware.
>
> 2- This is why we have passing off (common) law and restrictions on
> registering company names. My company name is "ish group". I wanted to
> register "ish" with the ASC, but could not because there was a shelf company
> out there registered as "i.s.h." (the initials stood for something unlike my
> company name). This is how it should be.
>
> Do we need a solution for (3)? Has the USA domain name structure dissolved
> under the weight of generic names? I think not.
>
> How about this solution:
>
> 3- Have the domain name authority register themselves all the names they
> consider generic. Let this point to a page explaining why the user got to the
> page they did and several links to the main search engines to that the user
> can perform a more useful search for that product.
>
> Then anything not allocated in this way is up for grabs.
>
> At least this provides a little more certainty and removes any pressure to "do
> something with these domains".
>
> The line must be clearly drawn. If furnituretrade.com.au cannot be registered,
> how about electronictrade.com.au? Or what about etrade.com.au?
>
> Ari Maniatis
>
> -------------------------->
> ish group pty ltd
> 43 Moverly Rd Kingford NSW 2032 Australia
> phone +61 2 9314 1267   fax +61 2 9349 5720
> email info§ish.com.au
> PGP fingerprint 08 57 20 4B 80 69 59 E2  A9 BF 2D 48 C2 20 0C C8
>
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