>The most concerning thing that came straight into my mind was what the
>customer is thinking...
>
>"ohh no, more spam about that domain name thing that i dont understand.."

Worse off, listing names of companies they might never have heard of or be 
dealing with.  ISPs tend to keep their cards close to their chest and NOT 
tell the customer where the registration comes from.

>Its good on one hand that they are warning their customers to watch out when
>dealing with a "competent domain registration company" (taken from their
>webpage) but now on the other hand, who is the customer to believe? A company
>called Melbourne IT, or the "internet registry".

It's called bad exposure.  MIT and auDA are not Government agencies.  Two 
years ago when I rang around 90% of Government agencies (who knew what TIO 
was) thought and INSISTED that TIO Limited was in fact a Government agency, 
when it's not, it's a private corporation.  That included the ATO, ASIC and 
Fair Trading - all who have access to company records and should have known 
immediately.  I actually argued for 10 minutes with the ASIC Directors 
office in Melbourne stating TIO is a LIMITED company.

So the problem stems to an issue of FALSE representation to the 
consumer.  auDA is NOT a Government sanctioned organisation, it is a 
Non-Profit Limited company made up of members who all have a very specific 
commercial and financial interest in the Domain Name Administration process.

Something one of my soon to be released TVC's works hard to explain.  (Yes 
there is a TIO version too.)

>If i was a normal punter, id be getting mighty confused by now..

Get more confused.  I'm not even an MIT punter and yet *I* got a 
message.  It's great to get, helps feed my copyrighters, but the reality 
is, who else got one and what exactly is it suppose to mean to them?

Anyone want to sponsor TV ads in their local region?  Call my office, ask 
for the Public Awareness section and name your offer.  Cheapest advertising 
you'll ever get.  We're also advertising in Cinema's which can specifically 
target your local area.