From: Bruce Tonkin 
Sent: Friday, 30 July 2004 5:14 PM
To: jo.lim@auda.org.au
Subject: Regarding geographic names

Hello Jo,

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the restriction of geographic names 
in .com.au and .net.au.

Prior to July 2002, there was also a restriction against registering generic names.  
This restriction was removed and there have been no adverse consequences.  On the 
positive side it has reduced confusion by consumers that cannot understand why some 
generic words (e.g news.com.au) were allowed in .com.au, and why the same generic 
words could be registered in .com.  .com names are more common in Australia than 
.com.au names, and consumer expectations are often based on their understanding of 
the use of .com domain names.  

It seems unreasonable that the choice of an identifier to identify a geographic 
region somehow prevents the same identifier being used for other things.  In many 
cases the identifier (e.g Orange, Goodnight , Flowerpot or Melbourne) was used to 
identify an object or a person (ie person's name) well before the use of that 
identifier for a geographic region, and in any case many of these identifiers are 
generic words. In some cases a geographic region is named using the same identifier 
as used in an existing domain name.  In such cases the domain name is allowed to 
exist, until it expires, and then it cannot be re-registered (e.g docklands.com.au).   
I note also that identifiers used to represent geographic regions in Australia are 
not even unique (e.g there are four places called Gordon in Australia).  At least 
a full domain name is unique.

Given that there is now a place in the .au hierarchy for geographic names (ie 
.nsw.au, .vic.au), there is no reason why a legal entity with a close and substantial 
connection to an identifier should not be able to use that identifier as their domain 
name in .com.au and .net.au.

The claim that allowing geographic names in .com.au and .net.au would cause confusion 
for consumers seeking to reach a website within .nsw.au does not make sense for two 
reasons.  One, such names can be registered within .com and users have not been 
complaining about the use of such names in .com, and there are more .com names in 
Australia than .com.au, and second, search engines will display the various options 
and allow consumers to choose the site that most meets their needs.

Given that there still seems to be community concern about making the change, perhaps 
a small step forward could be to allow the registration of a geographic name name in 
.com.au and .net.au provided a legal entity has a close and substantial connection 
with the name, but disallow registration of such a name for the purposes of promoting 
the region, until such time as the geographic hierarchy becomes more understood. Thus 
a business called "Neville and Sons" based in Melbourne could register the domain name 
"neville.com.au" as a legitimate abbreviation, but the local council for Neville in 
NSW would not be eligible to register in .com.au for the purposes of promoting the 
geographic region. The auDRP process would apply in cases where a name is being 
mis-used.

Regards,
Bruce Tonkin