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The auDA’s New 2LDs Advisory Panel has released a Discussion Paper inviting comments on:

• new 2LDs in general; and
• proposals for new 2LDs, conf.au and info.au.

The closing date for submissions is Sunday 23 May 2010.

For more information please see http://www.auda.org.au/new2ldsap/new2ldsap-index/

There are two ways in which you can comment on the issues raised in the paper.

1. Send a written submission to:

Jo Lim
Chief Policy Officer, auDA
email: jo.lim@auda.org.au
fax: 03 8341 4112

Electronic submissions are preferred. All submissions will be posted on the auDA website within 2 working days of receipt, unless clearly marked confidential.

The closing date for submissions is Sunday 23 May 2010.

2. Complete the online survey at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/3GWKKM9 .

Name Drive

NameDrive parking is a service whereby you can park your domain names free of charge. NameDrive then places targeted advertising on your parked domains and you earn money whenever visitors to your domains click on the ads. Advertisements are generated from marketing partners associated with NameDrive and you are paid a commission each time your domain is accessed and an ad is clicked. Content sensitive ads are displayed to the user of the domain in much the same way as how Google Adsense may work on your developed website.

Why would you use NameDrive? Many people when setting up a business or have a new business idea the first thing they do is purchase a domain name to protect the name and their online identity. As many people will know when you set up a new business getting a new website is not the first thing to happen or the development time may take a bit longer. You can use these in-between time to earn some more, especially if the domain name is a popular one.
Buy and Sell Domains

NameDrive offers its users the ability to buy and sell domain names. By signing up to the NameDrive service you can keep a look out for domain names that may be of use to your business or business idea. Likewise if you purchase a domain name that may have some commercial value you can offer the domain up for sale, while still parking the domain and earning revenue.

Many people when looking for a new domain name will go to there Internet Browser and try and access the domain name they want. If you have a popular domain, people could be doing thousands of domain lookups on your domain each day, each with the potential to click through on some of the targeted advertising.

For further information and to signup for NameDrive Domain Parking you can check out the website http://www.namedrive.com

Check for domain name availability

Too often people will want to register a domain they believe to be available but when it comes to purchasing the domain they find out the domain is unavailable.

The common mis-leader: Testing domain availability using your web browser.

More often people will test for the availability of a domain by typing in the domain name into their web browser. If they are shown a website then that is not available, if they are shown a domain not available error message then it is assumed that the domain name is available only to find out when they attempt to purchase the domain they are unable to.

This occurs due to people purchasing a domain for a variety of reasons, protecting their online identity, domain name parking until the website is built, maybe they just want the convenience of having an email address at their domain. What ever the reason they are not doing anything wrong if they have a legitimate claim to the domain name.

So how do you accurately test for domain name availability?
Testing for domain name availability is an easy process once shown how. You can quickly and easily test the availability aswell as retrieve the contact information for a domain performing a WHOIS search.

A WHOIS search queries different repositories and returns the contact information associated with the domain, the created date and the expiry date.

To perform a WHOIS search, go to http://domains.101webtech.com and use the domain tools accessed by the left hand menu.

To complete the query you will need to type in the domain name and verification image, then hit submit. If you get a match the system will give you the available information for the domain name, otherwise a “No Match” message will be shown. The “No Match” message will let you know that the domain is available for purchase.

Why register a domain name?

The answer is simply to protect your online identity at a cost effective price. Your domain name is your address on the internet and is the first step towards your online presence. The domain name provides you with an online identity or brand. Protecting your domain name or names is important in protecting your online identity. It’s a valuable part of your business identity and an invaluable marketing tool.

To gain the best advantage on the Internet you should consider registering your company name as well as any abbreviations along with any trademark of products and/or services. Abbreviations become more important if you have a long or difficult to spell business name.

For example: a three letter Domain name like www.xyz.com.au is far easier to remember than a long domain name or asking the user to type in a difficult to spell company name.

Further advantages to a short domain name is it can help when customers want to visit or revisit your site, if you have a short easy to remember domain name.

Am I eligible to register a domain name?

There are different rules for different domains as a general rule there is no restrictions on registering a .com domain name. However the downside is you may find it harder to purchase the domain name you are after in the .com space.
.AU

As a general rule 101 Web Technology provides the below advice to client wanting to purchase a .AU domain name.

To comply with auDA policies for the registration of .au domains, the domain name must be:

• exactly match, acronym or abbreviation of the registrant’s company or trading name, organization or association name or trademark, or
• otherwise closely and substantially connected to the registrant. 

If you wish to buy a .com.au or .net.au domain name, you must be a commercial entity and possess either an ACN or ABN. 

How do I buy a domain?

Easy, you can register your domain name with 101 Web Technology with the confidence that you are buying most of our domains up to 50% cheaper then some of our much larger competitors. We do this because we understand that having your own domain name doesn’t need to be an expensive cost added to your online presence.

101 Web Technology brings to you over 40 top level domain name extensions for you to choose from including many International Domain Names, so protecting your online identity has never been more convienent and cheaper.

If your website is not ready yet, when you register a domain name with 101 Web Technology you will recieve FREE DNS Management and URL Forwarding services. What this means to our clients is you can have email at your domain straight away and your domain name is protected for when you launch your new website.

Register your new domain name online at http://domains.101webtech.com

auDA is currently reviewing the Domain Expiry, Renewal and Deletion Policy . The policy is available on auDA’s website at http://www.auda.org.au/policies/auda-2006-07/

auDA invites comment on all aspects of the policy, in particular:

• Whether the current 30 day pending delete period for expired domain names (ie. where the registrant has not renewed their domain name) is appropriate.
• Whether the current “domain purge” procedure (ie. where domain names are purged from the registry at a random time between 10.30am and 5.00pm AEST on the next business day after the pending delete period ends) is effective.
• What action (if any) auDA should take in relation to unofficial domain drop lists, and the domain-catching services being provided by some accredited registrars and other industry participants.

Comments should be sent to:

Jo Lim
Chief Policy Officer
email: jo.lim@auda.org.au
fax: 03 9349 5711

The closing date for submissions is Friday 11 September 2009.

All submissions will be published on auDA’s website at http://www.auda.org.au/reviews/red-2009/.