Something of interest here no doubt.

Cheers
David

ACA firms control over .au names
Fairfax IT
http://www.it.fairfax.com.au/e-commerce/20000912/A55099-2000Sep8.html
Tuesday, September 12, 2000

THE FEDERAL Government has acted to tighten the law concerning Internet
domain names.

The Telecommunications Legislation Amendment Bill 2000, currently before
Parliament, confirms the power of the Australian Communications Authority to
decide who runs the domain naming system in Australia or, if necessary, to
take on the job itself. 

The changes will also allow the ACA to decide whether the system is working,
without having to refer to "generally accepted principles and standards". 

An explanation attached to the bill says it would be difficult to establish
what those standards are, and that the ACA should be able to decide for
itself if the system is being run correctly.

Domain naming in Australia is controlled by Melbourne University staffer
Robert Elz, although moves to achieve self-regulation are well advanced and
most sub-domains are run by other companies (such as Melbourne IT) or
volunteer registrars. 

The accompanying notes say the government still favors self-regulation of
the domain name system.

The Australian Consumer and Competition Commission will also have the power
to direct the ABA to take action if it believes fair competition is being
affected by the policies of the existing authority. 

Acting chief executive of the .au Domain Authority (auDA), Mark Hughes, says
auDA has been consulted on the changes and is comfortable with them.

He says he believes it is simply a matter of time before the Federal
Government and Robert Elz agree to formally hand over the .au administration
to auDA. Elz did not respond to a request for comment on the bill. 

Hughes says the outcome of current advisory panels on naming and competition
policies should not affect support for auDA, as the process was inclusive. 

In July, Melbourne IT signed an agreement to provide the bulk of auDA's
funding for three years and finally gave its backing to the panel process. 

Melbourne IT chief executive Peter Gerrand has also welcomed the changes to
the law.