> Out of curiosity what do the .auDA boad members think about
> such reforms (I do hope they are on this list).

Hey, I'm a member of the auDA interim board - I'll bite :)

Firstly, let me start by saying that what the auDA board members think
about .edu.au policy is pretty irrelevant, since auDA proposes that
members will set policy via a public process - see
www.auda.org.au/panel.html for details.

But I'm happy to express my individual opinion.  My own belief is that
.edu.au should be reserved for entities that are accredited by
Australian Federal, State or Territory governments as either:

* Primary Schools
* Secondary Schools
* Tertiary educational institutions (Universities, TAFEs, etc)

Yes, I reckon the criteria should be objective, and it should be based
on existing criteria - governments already accredit these types of
institutions for various purposes.

And yes, this rule would exclude all sorts of educational related
entities - some for-profit, some not-for-profit.  The reason for
excluding all these other 'educational' entities, is that without some
sort of objective criteria, I can't make sense of which entities to
allow into .edu.au, and which ones to exclude.  As has already been
said in previous postings, there are all sorts of educational
entities, from those offering MicroSoft Certification courses, to
those offering Driving Courses.  Do they all get into .edu.au?  If
not, what is the criteria?

Actually, I reckon there are bugger-all entities that don't do at
least _some_ education;  my own business does a fair bit.  So then is
every entity allowed into .edu.au?  If yes, then why have .edu.au -
its then indistinguishable from .com.au or .net.au.  If no, then where
do we draw the line?

I can see no value in having a separate .edu.au unless there exist
objective criteria that ensure that .edu.au only includes a subset of
entities for which there is a high community level of agreement that
they are educational institutions.  If entities that a significant
number of people do not believe are appropriate are included in any
2LD, then the justification for having that separate 2LD disappears.

Regards, Mark

Mark Hughes
auDA Treasurer & Membership Officer
www.auda.org.au
auda.treasurer§pplications.com.au
04 1374 3959