Hello,

I'm writing to ask for opinions on the Connect .net.au policy in regards to
their restriction on two letter domains. I recently attempted to register 2
two letter domain names, one for my own company, and one for a client. I was
surprised and disappointed to learn that Connect will not allow you to
register two *letter* domains. Close examination of the policy reveals (from
https://registry.connect.com.au/cgi-bin/na-policy.cgi as at 28th September
2000):

<snip>
5. Which net.au domain names are eligible for listing
In order to be eligible for listing, an applicant's net.au domain name must,
in the absolute opinion of Connect:
<snip>
f) be at least two characters long and contain only alphanumeric characters
and hyphens; and
g) if only two characters long have a numeric second character.

<snip>


Meaning domains like i7.net.au are fine, whereas ik.com.au isn't. Upon
contacting Connect and asking their reason why, they said it was to stop
people from registering names like au.net.au.

This has generated several questions, and I'd appreciate your feedback on
the issues raised:

1) Given that there are several names in the .net.au namespace that
contradict this policy that were registered before the revision in which
this clause was enacted, I can understand why they would be allowed to keep
their domain names... after all, registration is a contract, and you can't
change the rules after you have agreed to something... but what happens when
you go to renew? shouldn't you renew under the new rules? and if so, how are
domains like fl.net.au and we.net.au (examples) allowed to renew? and if
they are, how is this fair to those who can't register under those same
conditions?

2) How is registration of names like au.net.au a problem when the rest of
the policy deals with invalid names? couldn't a registration like this be
knocked back because of it's general nature, whilst still allowing valid
uses of the domain space? even then, how hard is it to reserve these
"invalid" names so they can't be registered... as is done with single letter
domains in the .com, .net namespaces? Do they now disallow three letter
domains to stop people registering .net.net.au? or nine letter domains to
stop australia.net.au?

3) How does connect justify this as a management decision when every other
registrar seems to manage just fine without this restriction? particularly
when it contradicts .com, .net, .org, .au, .com.au polices and the DNS RFC
on valid names?

4) Is it justified to deny businesses with valid company and trading names
in Australia, from registering names in the .net.au namespace when they meet
all the criteria in regards to the spirit of the namespace: both companies
are registered Australian companies, offering network services, to
Australia. The domains requested are directly related to their registered
company names, and their domain counterparts are both registered to other
companies in the .com.au space. All these factors appear to make
registration in the .net.au namespace not only justified, but relevant.


I understand there are two sides to every story, and I'm fully prepared to
accept any good reasons for these restrictions, but the explanation given by
Connect, does not fall into this category as far as I am concerned.

I had tried to obtain contact details for the .net.au administrator, but the
person that I spoke to at Connect refused to tell me who it was, or give me
their contact details, so I am copying this to the support address listed on
the Connect page, and hoping it will find the relevant people.

Thanks to those to took the time to read this, I will be greatly
appreciative of any feedback given.

Regards,
Aleks Huson