On 24 Mar 2005 at 8:24, ian§bluedoor wrote:

> I thought the policy was there to protect the consumer.

Yeah and the Easter Bunny is arriving at your place on Sunday.

"Competition" has rendered the whole .au domain space is a mess with the registrant the 
only mug in the game as they are paying far too much for something that should not cost 
more than a few dollars except that the cartel of auDA, Ausregistry, the registrars (22 of 
them!) and resellers all get in for their cut.

By way of comparison .co.il  and .co.za domains cost less than what Ausregistry alone 
gouges from com.au domains let alone the clip the other buggers take out - and they are 
both administered efficiently and economically by a single entity.

Originally we were told the additional price was worth paying because the regulations 
imposed a cost burden and ensured a "clean" domain space. 

All that has gone by the board because auDA is out to lunch or to be more generous has 
consistently failed to enforce its own rules and those rules have increasingly become 
observed only in the breach. Registrars have always been able to chose wheter to apply a 
rule or not and complaints to auDA are pointless.

And don't get me started on the price of .edu.au domains. A $100 registration fee for what is 
free or almost free in more or less every other jurisdiction in the world and should be here. 
What a rort. The funeral industry should sign up for lessons


cb