I wrote to the ACCC about the domain name issue.  No real response as
yet but they are going to look at it.

Jim Birch

Kelly Larry wrote:
> 
> Dear Jim Birch
> 
> Thank you for your e-mail.  The matter is receiving attention and we will
> write to you again.
> 
> Larry Kelly
> Assistant Director
> Western Australia
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jim Birch [mailto:jbirch§multinode.com.au]
> Sent: Monday, 1 November 1999 10:25
> To: percompl§accc.gov.au
> Subject: Internet names
> 
> Hi
> 
> Does the ACCC have a policy in the selling of Australian internet domain
> names?  Is this within the ACCC's area of interest?  It is currently an
> area of clear monopoly in Australia but, to date at least, managed with
> a level of public interest.  There has been a lot of changes and
> positioning recently but the following article indicating that the
> monopoly is going private is worrying to say the least, eg.
> 
> Can INA be forced to hand over part of it's monopoly?
> Should a monopoly like this be allowed to go public anyway?
> 
> It seems to me that the ACCC should be looking at this before it goes
> too far down the track.
> 
> Best regards
> 
> Jim Birch
> Multinode Computing
> jbirch§multinode.com.au
> 
> <snip from
> news.com.au>
> 
> Uni aims for $92m sale
> By NIC HOPKINS
> 
> 29oct99
> 
> THE University of Melbourne hopes it will earn nearly $92.5 million from
> the sale of shares in its domain name registry business, Melbourne IT.
> 
> The float, through JB Were & Son, will be the second-largest in the
> Internet sector in Australia, beaten only by the $160.8 million initial
> public offer of shares in ecorp, the former PBL Online.
> 
> The initial public offer will cut the stake held by Melbourne
> University's
> commercialisation arm, Melbourne Enterprise International, from 100
> per cent to 15 per cent.
> 
> It will raise $85 million and a small amount of new equity will be
> offered to raise another $7.5 million. Total market capitalisation of
> the
> company will be close to $110 million after the float.
> 
> Melbourne IT operates as an independent commercial company best
> known for its division Internet Names WorldWide. This administers the
> .com.au registry and provides services in .com, .net, .org and .co.uk
> domains.
> 
> Internet Names WorldWide was first known as Internet Names
> Australia, which managed the .com.au registry. It is the third largest
> domain space in the world after Germany's .de and Britain's .co.uk.
> 
> This year, INA was accredited by the US-based Internet Corporation
> of Assigned Names and Numbers to officially administer the .com, .net
> and .org domain names around the world, and it changed its name to
> Internet Names World Wide.
> 
> At present, the business has a monopoly in Australia and, while it has
> most to lose when competition arrives, it is confident that the
> expansion of the market will be strong enough to ensure revenue
> growth.
> 
> It is understood the share offer values Melbourne IT at about 30
> times historical revenues and 4.5 expected revenues for financial
> 2000-01.
> 
> JB Were has been road-showing the float to institutional investors all
> this week. Deloitte Corporate Finance is also advising on the offer.
> 
> Some potential investors are concerned at the magnitude of the
> selldown, perceived in some quarters as "cashing in its chips".
> <unsnip>