>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?

Yes, sigh... they all should be able to get an edu.au domain...

There should be no criteria. The whole point is I personally don't want one
person having to decide. It gets objective and very messy and in turn very
unfair. If someone thinks they offer an educational product, service or
related activity then they should get it. It is as simple as that. A small
fee and Bob's your uncle.....

David mentioned a legislative definition. Ouch, but that way is more suited
to the 70's or the 50's for that matter. The link he mentioned led to a
very unsatisfactory definition. A case in point would be a Muslim school
that does not recieve funding or "legitimacy" (or an edu.au. for that
matter) unless decided upon by the Minister, which gets us back to an
objective ruling... Which just passes the problem upwards.

A PERFECT CASE IN POINT: The Australian Science Teachers Association has an
edu.au domain http://www.asta.edu.au And they undertake very similar
activities and functions as my client. They exist in the same "Educational
sector" as my client. But does my client get an edu.au domain? No...  WHY
because it is subjective. IS IT FAIR?

NO it is not fair.... It needs changing...

In my experience (or for a fast fix just read Wired for a few months) 2LD
Domain names are becoming just like the telephone prefix. More of a flavor
than a static identity. Consumers are not that stupid, nor do they need
their hands held.

The internet cannot be "protected" or put in neat little boxes anymore. On
my servers I have a whole range of domains my customers think could be
useful for themselves or their clients. My personal fav. is a client who
wanted a .to domain. This is my whole point, an Australian company with a
brand name that was strengthened by using something out of the box. The
Ivory Towers have to get down and dirty with the rest of us....

Matthew King




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