auDA Calls for Public Comment

auDA, the Australian Domain Name Regulator has today released the draft recommendations of the 2010 Names Policy Panel for public comment.

The 2010 Names Policy Panel (“the Panel”) have considered the following policies (as part of auDA’s request for a review):

• Domain Name Eligibility and Allocation Policy Rules for the Open 2LDs (2008-05)
• Guidelines for Accredited Registrars on the Interpretation of Policy Rules for the Open 2LDs (2008-06)
• Reserved List Policy (2008-03)
• Prohibition on Misspellings Policy (2008-09)
• Domain Monetisation Policy (2008-10)

Public comment on the draft recommendations will be open until Friday 10 June 2011. A full copy of the draft recommendations are available from the auDA website.

The draft recommendations clearly show a reluctance by the auDA Panel to change the excessively regulated .au domain space. Among some of the draft recommendations, the Panel has recommended that:

• the Domain Monetisation Policy be abolished and incorporated in to the Domain Name Eligibility and Allocation Policy Rules;
• existing eligibility criteria for domain name registrants be retained;

The public are encouraged to provide feedback to the Panel – a copy of the draft recommendations can be found here.