Hi Kim
Below may be the original press release you were looking for.
It was emailed to the IT press on 05/10/98. We covered it with Clive about 2
weeks ago on our weekly show.
Let me know if you would like the interview archived somewhere where you can
listen to it.
Jim Stewart
Exec Producer / Director
ICQ 7886979                     NOTE: NEW MOBILE # (61) (0)411882009
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-----Original Message-----
From: Nicola Mendleson <nmrdw&#167;melbourne.starway.net.au>
To: Jim Stewart <jim&#167;ttalk.com
Date: Monday, 5 October 1998 11:30
Subject: Media release: Buyer Beware - All Internet Names are not the same.


>5 OCTOBER 1998
>
>
>BUYER BEWARE - ALL INTERNET NAMES ARE NOT THE SAME
>
>
>Internet Names Australia (INA), registrars of the official Internet space
>for Australian business - com.au, are embarking on a national campaign to
>warn business owners about unregulated Internet names on the market.
>
>Over the past three months, INA has received numerous calls from consumers
>who are genuinely baffled as to what name they should register their
>business under. There have been a number of instances where consumers
>appear to have been given false and misleading information.
>
>Australian businesses need to be aware of the differences between the
>various Internet names  available on the market and what these differences
>can mean to their business.
>
>Clive Flory, General Manager for INA, said that " the greatest number of
>problems we have had is with the au.com space. For example, consumers are
>NOT being told that au.com is a privately owned Internet space owned by an
>individual. In contrast, com.au is not owned by any individual or
>organisation but is allotted to the Australian community and is being
>administered for, and on behalf of, the community."
>
>"Net Registry Pty Ltd, the owners of au.com, have further confused the
>marketplace by putting a quote from Jon Postel of the Internet Assigned
>Numbers Authority (the organisation that officially assigns Internet name
>administration) in their ads and literature. The quote has been taken out
>of context and could lead consumers to believe that this authority has
>endorsed and officially assigned the au.com to be administered by Net
>Registry and this is not the case. Also, people selling au.com and other
>private spaces have been deliberately misleading the market by stating that
>com.au is full which is preposterous."
>
>"Another source of confusion for the public is the close similarity between
>the names com.au and au.com. Consumers don't realise that there is a huge
>difference between au.com and com.au. Many get an au.com Internet name
>thinking that they are buying a com.au name," he continued.
>
>There are many reasons to choose a com.au Internet name:
>
>1. Com.au is the only official Internet space for Australian business and
>over 90% of the Australian business that have registered an Internet Name
>have chosen a com.au name. This includes most of the Top 100 Australian
>companies listed on the Sydney Stock Exchange (as listed in BRW).
>2. Com.au is the fifth largest Internet space in the world.
>3. People will find your business faster because com.au is the first place
>people look for Australian businesses on the Internet.
>4. Having a com.au Internet name gives you instant credibility because only
>Australian commercial entities are accepted in the com.au Internet space.
>5. Com.au is not a private Internet space. It cannot disappear. If the
>owners of a private domain space were to loose the rights to that private
>Internet space then every Internet name attached to that space would also
>disappear.  This means you would have to buy a new name and start from
>scratch, ie having to register another name, reprint all your stationery
>and communicate your new web address. Consumers would not be able to access
>your web site and your ability to do business over the Internet would
>cease.
>
>What's more, people may have difficulty finding you because these spaces
>are by far the smallest spaces on the web and are not the names people
>think of when looking for Australian businesses.
>
>"INA takes their role of administering com.au very seriously. We are the
>authority on Internet names in Australia and we see our role as twofold -
>to protect the rights of the Australian Internet community with respect to
>Internet names and to educate the community with respect to the issues
>concerning the Internet and its uses," added Mr Flory.
>
>For more information about internet names contact Internet Names Australia
>on:
>Tel: 1800 354 595
>email help&#167;ina.com.au
>URL: www.ina.com.au
>
>About Melbourne IT
>
>Melbourne IT is a company developing Internet-related products and
>services. It has four major business units: Internet Names Australia, the
>largest supplier of Internet names and related services in Australia; the
>Melbourne IT Incubator which encourages and supports fledgling
>Internet-related businesses; ASAC which is a joint venture with Ericsson
>that positions Melbourne IT at the forefront of telecommunications software
>technologies; and the Education Product and Services group. For more about
>Melbourne IT, please contact Georgie Harrington on telephone: (03) 9344
>9304 or email: georgie&#167;melbourneit.com.au
>
>
>ENDS.
>
>Media enquires should be directed to Nicola Mendleson, Mendleson Strategic
>Communications, telephone: (03) 9531 895 or email:
>nmrdw&#167;melbourne.starway.net.au.
>
>
>