Global Village Promotions EMAILFrom: Brent Williamz Sent: Saturday, 31 July 2004 12:06 AM To: Jo Lim Subject: Review of auDA policy - restriction on geographic names in com.au and net.au We believe the restriction on geographic (place) names in com.au & net.au should be removed – ie. people/businesses/organisations/interested parties should be allowed to register geographic names in com.au & net.au. However, the process needs careful consideration as to how the restriction is lifted, how the domains are made available, & to whom. There's been much discussion already about Restriction on Geographic (Place) Names in com.au & net.au. And, yes, we have read with great interest all previous postings on your auDA website. Following is an overview of a working business model that may be adversely affected by a review of the current 2GLD restrictions. -------------------------------------------------------------- Our 2 associated small businesses, Global Village Promotions & Buderim Village Promotions, produce high quality, full colour, printed Locality Guides that support & promote community & commerce to specific regions of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland. We currently have an info-portal that effectively cross-promotes one of those regions 24/7 & worldwide. As per our business plan, we are currently expanding our range of Locality Guides to further SC regions & extending the Info-Portals to suit. Hence our ongoing interest in the Geographic (Place) Names domain registration process & review. In early 2000 we registered a domain based on our new business venture, Buderim Village Promotions. (At the time, we were quite surprised that postcode regions as domain names were FORBIDDEN to any person, company or organisation. Not even shire or city councils had access to them. With appropriate postcode names forming part of a domain, there has been a proliferation of domain registrations by creative Australian businesses & communities alike, from Internet early days to now. These provide Internet addresses for info-portal websites supporting localities, regions, towns, suburbs & cities within Australia.) We chose our domain address to suit the local vision of the "township/suburb" of Buderim as a contemporary village: www.BuderimVillage.com.au &, for 4 years, we've maintained this website as Buderim's prime Internet resource. Due to its popularity, we are extending its commercial viability this next 12 months while continuing to develop the community aspects. -------------------------------------------------------------- It seems there are quite a few exceptions/anomalies to the geographic (place) domain situation, yet no-one has discussed how these will be fairly dealt with. And there are further exceptions being created as we speak. Large real estate developers are developing whole suburbs/localities named after their company or estate title, registering a domain based on this title & setting up their website, then applying for, & being granted, their estate to become a postcode region in its own right. Next step is a website with a postcode domain, & it's legal! That's powerful marketing! Twin Waters, originally part of Mudjimba 4564 in Queensland, is now a postcode & domain, one example of an Australia-wide trend. We read in your previous website postings that the restrictions, if lifted, would make postcode domains initially available to 8-person committees with a community focus formed purely for this process, & operating under all manner of committee-controlled conditions unrelated to the real needs of the community region. You're joking! Let Johnny-come-lately committees have first bite of the cherry? Where were they when communities like Buderim or Brisbane needed an Internet presence? Consider the business model of a local interested party, commercial &/or community-based, that sets up an info-portal to address a local area/region's needs via the World Wide Web. Those individuals/ businesses/groups had foresight, finance & forebearance to establish a website for their region. THEY CARED! And they continue to care. Surely they deserve first option on the placename domain. Our own experience with organisations/committees in our 12 years of business is that most take a lot of people to do a little with very little result over a very long time. The smaller a committee the more effective it is: 3 is prime, more is a whine. 8 members may possibly work as a management committee for Brisbane but 2 people manage www.BuderimVillage.com.au just fine. OPTION 1: We suggest "postcode" domains be made available on a case-by-case basis, like business & company name registrations in the real world. Conditions for approval of each application could be as follows: a.. Existing website relative to geographic placename (preference given to "com.au or net.au Australian domains") b.. Years of operation of same (preference given to seniority of timeframe) c.. Website focus relative to its locality/region/city's needs d.. Relevant Internet, industry, community & business experience e.. Real-world relevance & support f.. Long-term viability, stability & suitability of managing organisation/business/person g.. Australian & local component (eg. person, business, organisation etc) h.. Committees recently formed for the express purpose of accessing these 2GLD's qualify only if no other contenders (case-by-case review panel to deliberate) i.. Relevant documentation eg. testimonials, references, industry & community referrals, promotional literature j.. Any other important factors (email us: info@buderimvillage.com.au) OPTION 2: License the postcode domains to the relevant shire/city council & let them setup a locality-node website that lists & licenses all interested local website contenders with active links. People can then browse one website per Shire or City on the Internet via a list & jump to these "local node" websites. For example, Brisbane City Council sets up a City website, eg. www.Brisbane.qld.au, sells "locality node" sub-licenses to cityofbrisbane.com.au, brisbanecity.com, festivalofbrisbane.com.au, brisbanewarana.com etc. Opportunities for subcontracting of websites, advertising, information services abound. This option needs much more thought but we're just putting it up for consideration. Many of the true innovators in the Internet are those who originate, not copy; reward these innovators. Those who set up & maintained pesudo-placename domains; the unsung heroes. How dare anyone shove them into a corner & let a committee displace them? They've given to the community for many years now. It's time they were given good value back. Give them first option on postcode domains. That's a damn fine starting point. And remember: some people once thought the Internet would/should never be commercial! Cheers Brent Williamz & Tracey Campbell Global Village Promotions