My preferred result is that there should be a level playing field.

I doubt anyone disputes that there are generic domain names in use by some people today, but other people cannot now get generic domain names registered. This is clearly an unfair situation.

The situation has arisen partly because some people got in early (before restrictions which INA says it now applies) and partly because some people seem able - even after the adoption by INA of the rules against generic names - to register names which seem so generic as to be almost impossible to distinguish their "generic-ness" from other names which INA has refused to register because they were too generic.

If there are no restrictions on generic names then at least the .com.au registrar cannot give that reason to someone who wants a particular name.

I agree with most of what David Wise said below, but ... in my own view, it is clear that the owner of www.books.com.au does have an unfair advantage if no-one else can register (eg) bookshop.com.au because it offends the rule against generic names. I think David would acknowledge that is correct, because he also said "Internet users will become more sophisticated in their Internet habits and any advantage gained by the owner of www.books.com.au from users "stumbling"  onto their site will wane". My
comment on that is - while we are waiting for the (potentially tremendous, in dollar terms) advantage to wane, some people are clearly gaining an advantage.

I consider that to be unfair, and I also think that the advantage will continue for at least the next couple of years (if not significantly more), so I think the situation should be fixed by allowing generic names to be registered pronto (plus, there is no strongly persuasive reason I can see why .com.au should differ from .com in the way we treat generic domain names).

Mark Davidson
Marshall Marks Kennedy Lawyers
Sydney


David_Wise§fhp.com.au wrote:

> As I see it, many people are assuming that  a business with a domain name like "www.books.com.au"  would have an unfair advantage over any other business.
> In my view this is simply not true because:
>
> 1.  The success of an online business depends on many factors, only one of which is the domain name (ask any Internet business consultant).   "Branding" is perhaps the most important factor for success.   Generic names do not make good brands.
>
> 2. There are many other good domain names available apart from www.book.com.au.    For example:   book.com.au,  onlinebooks.com.au,   ebooks.com.au,  ibooks.com.au, cyberbooks.com.au,  goodbooks.com.au,  greatbooks.com.au,   bestbooks.com.au,  topbooks.com.au,  [nameofbookshop].com.au,   reading.com.au,  textbooks.com.au, paperbacks.com.au, novels.com.au, etc etc.    Not to mention all of the different words for "books" in Macquarie's thesaurus, and all of their derivatives.   Not to mention all
> of the different TLDs that are available.   You are only limited by your imagination.
>
> 3.  Users are not terminally stupid.    Current average levels of Internet knowledge are low, but  in time Internet users will become more sophisticated in their Internet habits and any advantage gained by the owner of www.books.com.au from users "stumbling"  onto their site will wane.
>
> David Wise
> Freehill Hollingdale & Page
> Brisbane
>
> My views are not necessarily those of my employer.
>
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