Response to auDA Call for 2nd Level Domains Proposals 1. Introduction auDA has solicited proposals for new 2nd Level Domains and modifications which should be made to 'info.au' and 'conf.au'. 2. Domain Proposals The domain name system, DNS, within Australia already has a broad range of open 2LDs. I feel that the currently available ones are adequate and so I will not address them in this proposal. 2.1 New "closed" 2LDs 2.1.1 Hospitals and Medical institutions a. Name med.au .med.au may also be appropriate It is anticipated that www.med.au, or www..med.au, would provide a directory of all registered entities. b. Purpose For the registration of private and public hospitals, veterinary clinics and private medical practices. c. Benefits i. To Registrants Provides a common name space for registrants, like edu.au does. ii. To non-registrants Provides a common name space which makes locating hospitals far simpler. Rather than attempting to locate hospitals which might be in the gov.au[1], edu.au[2], com.au[3] or org.au[4] domains. d. Registrants The latest available data[5], indicates that there are over 1,200 public and private hospitals and associated facilities. This does not include veterinary clinics or private practices, as I was not able to determine numbers. e. Funding No funding model is proposed at this time f. Selection Criteria I have not approached any appropriate body comment on their willingness nor commitment to this domain. In spite of this I believe that this domain will serve Australians who wish to locate information about medical institutions by having a single, logical, place for that information. g. Why a closed domain Having a closed domain in which registration is available only to those who meet the selection criteria prevents ``rogue'' registrations which are common in other, more open, domains. h. Eligibility Registrants in med.au should be: - a public hospital - a private hospital - a veterinary clinic - a private practice Registrants would need to be accredited by the appropriate body such as a State government or Territories, in the case of hospitals. Or peak national bodies in the case of vet and doctors. i. Policy Rules and Peak Body I have not approached any appropriate organisation about the med.au domain, so I can not suggest an appropriate body to manage registrations. Once such a body is formed, or is found, it would be more natural for policy to be decided then. However, in the interim, I am willing to serve as the registrar for the domain - at no charge. In this situation I would approach various peak bodies about creating consensus policy rules. 2.1.2 Embassies and High Commissions a. Name emb.au It is anticipated that www.emb.au would provide a directory of all registered entities. b. Purpose The domain would be dedicated to the registration of embassies and high commissions that are located within Australia c. Benefits i. To Registrants Provides a common, and consistent, name space within which information can be readily located. ii. To non-Registrants Provides a common name space which makes locating embassies simpler and far less time consuming. Rather than attempting to information which might be in the anywhere on the Internet[6],[7],[8]. d. Registrants Potentially this would be the number of recognised states in the world. This is currently less than 200. e. Funding No funding model is proposed at this time, nor, do I believe one is required. f. Selection Criteria As I have not approached the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade I can not comment on their willingness nor commitment to this domain. In spite of this I believe that this domain will serve Australians who wish to locate information about an embassy or high-commission by having a single, logical, place for that information. g. Why a closed domain Each registrant would be a state that is duly recognised by Australia and it would be inappropriate to allow anyone to register in this domain h. Eligibility Criteria The same criteria that the Government uses to allow/disallow states to establish High Commissions, Consulates and Embassies in Australia i. Policy and Peak body It is anticipated that Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) would be the body which sets policy and performs registrations in this domain. However, I have not spoken to anyone at the department about this proposal. Should DFAT be unwilling to serve as the peak body, I am willing to perform registration duties (at no charge). In this case registrations would not occur unless a state was recognised by the Government. 2.2 Changes to existing domains 2.2.1 'conf.au' a. Purpose To support conferences and exhibitions b. Benefits i. To Registrants The domain will be used by those, already existing, organisations that are organising conferences and exhibitions. This may be at a Government level (gov.au), at Educational institutions, commercial organisations (com.au) or community groups (asn.au, org.au). It provides a separate, and distinct, area which promotion, registration and proceedings may be available. ii. To non-Registrants Provides a distinct, logically, separated domain which may reduce the amount of unnecessary registrations that occur in domains (e.g. com.au, org.au) for these events. c. Selection Criteria As it is proposed that the conf.au be 'opened', only a long-term commitment by auDA and accredited registrars is required. There is currently no existing domain which can be used for conferences and events; many events simply "hi-jack" another domains purpose. From my own experience with a .conf.au (specifically linux.conf.au) domain; both registrations and interest in the conference increased once registration had occurred. d. Eligibility Criteria In order to be eligible for registration within conf.au, the applicant should be an organisation with an existing .au domain and also be organising an event (like a conference, exhibition, trade show. e. Policy Rules The current policy rules for .conf.au are "For short duration conferences and exhibitions, this domain space has an expiration policy". Having been associated with an event[9] registered within .conf.au twice I do not believe that the expiry of domain names is appropriate. I base this decision on the difficulty involved in knowing when a domain name is "live" and when it is not. The current registrar does not provide any indication when delegation (or removal of delegation) has occurred; nor have these events (in both cases) matched the requested dates. However, I also do not believe that permanent registration is appropriate for this domain (like it is for .edu.au and .gov.au). I suggest an annual renewal policy because the majority of events making use of the domain, thus far, have been once-off events and not recurring. Having an annual renewal for the domain, rather than shorter time periods, provides those who wish to stage an event with confidence that a domain name that have registered is renewed for a guaranteed period of time - and that it will disappear (or appear) at an inopportune time. This policy may also prevent domain "hoarding" by parties who might be interested in selling valuable names to others. f. Open or Closed? I believe that the .conf.au will best be served by being open. The will provide all accredited registrars with the opportunity to provide registration services. This should make registration simpler and far more assured than the current registration system. Author: Anand Kumria [1]: [2]: [3]: [4]: [5]: Australian Hospital Statistics 1999-00, [6]: US Consulate in Sydney, [7]: French Embassy, [8]: Consulate General of the People's Republic of China, [9]: I was involved in organising Linux.Conf.Au 2001, and advised Linux.Conf.Au 2002