At 03:26 PM 12/05/97 +1000, you wrote:
>Too many second level domain names as just as bad as too few.

And potentially worse for the reasons Geoff put forward (which I've snipped).

The question "Why not? (duplicate the new TLDs under .au)" has been answered
fairly well for me.  "Why not?" was my initial knee jerk reaction too.

If we are going to strive to maintain order in the .au namespace, the only
point of having additional 2LDs is if they have a different policy or
conditions for people or groups to register in them.

The difference between the existing 2LDs in Australia is pretty clear
(except asn.au and org.au? maybe someone could fill me in privately on the
distinction or post a referrence).

I only see a need for additional 2LDs if they are going to be servicing
different and mostly exclusive markets.  Otherwise, where there is a
commercial element (ie. where DNA's are charging rather than being
voluntary) facilitating competition within that 2LD should be the objective.

Cheers

Brett

----
Brett Caird		Chief Executive/Director
brettc§bit.net.au	http://www.bit.net.au/
Brisbane Internet Technology Pty Ltd
"Its easy to be patient if you haven't got anything better to do."