At 1:43 PM +1100 31/1/2000, Mark Nearhos quoted:

>"Senator Alston has also proposed a new category of .id.au, in
>addition to .com or .org, to allow individuals to set up
>websites, but again only if they are that person."

Well I never. And I though .id.au had been around for five years
<http://www.id.au/>. Gosh it must be otherwise. How could I be
tony-barry.emu.id.au?

Gee how can I prove I am me?

>From the www.id.au site -

>The id.au domain was created early in 1995 as a place in the
>namespace where individuals or families can register
>subdomains. The id.au domain was designed to solve the
>problem of keeping email addresses consistent over time.
>
>It was noticed that over time an individual may move between
>several employers (or whatever other affiliation that
>provides their network connectivity), requiring them to
>change their email address.
>
>Some suggestions to solve this problem involved registering
>people under cities and states to form an hierarchical
>system not unlike the Australian Postal system. This,
>however, has exactly the same drawbacks as the postal
>system, where people's addresses need to change when they
>move between cities or states.
>
>The solution adopted (although he does not take credit for
>the idea) by Robert Elz, the administrator for the au domain
>was to register the domain id.au. Under the id.au domain
>resides subdomains maintained by an independent group of
>people, each maintaining a domain with an arbitrary name.
>The subdomains of id.au are allocated from suggestions of
>names made from the net at large, generally following the
>convention of Australian fauna and flora. Each domain
>operates independently within the id.au guidelines with
>their own allocation policies, costs, maintenance procedures
>and rules.
>
>This makes a registration within id.au non-political,
>non-geographical and completely unrelated to a person's
>place of work, or lack thereof.
>
>An individual can view the policies of the various
>providers, and choose the one that most suits their needs.
>If the individual requires fast and reliable service, they
>will likely expect to pay for it. If they wish a low-cost
>service, some domains will be provided free-of-charge.

I wonder if the Minister (did he create the internet or was it Gore) knows
about all the other domains in .au

>From http://www.auda.org.au/domains.html

com.au

       Commercial Entities
       This domain is for commercial entities, such as companies (with ACN
as registered
       through ASIC), and businesses (registered with state governments).
       Registry: Internet Names Australia

.net.au

       Network Service Providers
       For companies that provide Network Services (such as ISPs).
       Registry: connect.com.au

.edu.au

       Educational Institutions
       Bodies of national significance (such as universities) are
registered directly in this
       domain. State based bodies are registered in a state subdomain like
.nsw.edu.au
       Registrar: Geoff Huston

.gov.au

       Government Entities
       Federal government bodies are registered below .gov.au. State or
local governent are
       registered in their state's subdomain such as .sa.gov.au
       Registry: Office of Government Online

.asn.au

       Associations and Non-Profit Organisations
       The .asn.au domain serves for incorporated bodies, political
parties, trade unions,
       sporting and special interest clubs, and partnerships between
disparate organisations.
       Registry: Connect West

 .id.au

       Individuals
       The .id.au domain is designated for Individuals use. It has a unique
policy of having a
       series of third level domains named after native Australian flora
and fauna (eg.
       echidna.id.au, ironbark.id.au, emu.id.au etc). End-users must
register under one of
       these, each provided by a different registry.
       .id.au Homepage
                     .info.au

       Major Information Resources
       This domain is used to identify major Australian information resources.
       Registrar: Geoff Huston

 .oz.au

       ACSNet Members
       Machines connected to the ACSNet network use the domain .oz.au. This
domain is
       largely historic.
       Registrar: Robert Elz

.telememo.au

       X.400 Gateway
       The .telememo.au domain is used as a gateway to the X.400 email
service operated by
       Telstra Enhanced Services (C=AU/ADMD=Telememo). For companies that
provide
       Network Services (such as ISPs).


.csiro.au

       Commonwealth Science and Industry Research Organisation
       The CSIRO is a statutory Research and Development organisation for
Australia. This
       domain is for their sole use.


.conf.au

       Conferences and Exhibitions
       For short duration conference and exhibitions, this domain space has
an expiration
       policy. Once the conference or exhibition is finished the domain
must be returned.
       Registrar: Robert Elz

.otc.au

       OTC X.400 Gateway
       (Removed. See .telememo.au)
.gw.au

       AARNet Gateways
       Used for AARNet routers, and border routers of organisations
connecting to the AARNet
       network. (Deprecated. See .net.au)
.org.au

       Miscellaneous
       The .org.au domain is a catch-all, for bodies that do not fit within
the policies of other
       second level domains such as .com.au, .asn.au or .gov.au.




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phone  +61 2 6241 7659
mailto:me&#167;Tony-Barry.emu.id.au
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