The only solution is to get a grip and open up the *.au namespace. This whole .com.au, .net.au thing is a crock. No one cares about .com.au. The only reason a company will get companyname.com.au is if (a) they already have companyname.com and they want the .com.au for consistency or (b) they couldn't get  companyname.com.

----Original Message-----
   >From:     	"AVS Network" <nigel&#167;avs.net.au>
   >To:         	dns&#167;auda.org.au
   >Subject:     	Re: [DNS] What's in a name? Too little, says panel
   >Reply-To:     	dns&#167;auda.org.au
   >Date:    	Sunday, 19 November 2000 9:35
   >
   >Imagine what the new gTLDs will do for the .au space? There will be so many 
   >'cool' domain names available and with 10 or so extensions to choose from, 
   >a .au domain name will be 'uncool'. I really think that the .au space is now 
   >nearly destroyed because of poor management skills of the space. Too strict 
   >to some companies, easy on others. It's just too inconsistent. It kind of 
   >reminds me of the management at Telstra and how they organise things. 
   >
   >They need to get their act together quickly before the new namespace will 
   >be .au.com. I am very surprised how well that has gone, they probably have 
   >more .au.com subdomains than .com.au domain names within another 
   >12 months. 
   >
   >But David Jones will never willing be undersold ;) 
   >
   >(DJs will meet any other store price. I haven't seen any price reductions from 
   >INA because of other cheaper domain names, just a GST increase). 
   >
   >Regards,
   >Nigel 
   >
   >*********** REPLY SEPARATOR ***********
   >
   >On 11/21/00, at 3:28 AM, Don Cameron wrote: 
   >
   >>Hi Nigel,
   >>
   >>...and of course yes, you are spot on... the comparitive cost between a
   >>.com, and a .com.au is also a significant factor to my customers (why buy at
   >>David Jones when you can buy the same thing from KMart at half the price?).
   >>There are no organisations doing any real marketing of the benefits of the
   >>.au extension, so why should the market consider it to be "better"... when
   >>to the customer, all it is is dearer, harder to register (and more of a
   >>headache for the ISP), and simply contains more letters for site visitors to
   >>type in the URL?... and perhaps most significantly, whenever I explain to
   >>customers the requirements to obtain a .au domain name, I usually hear the
   >>comment that this is just another system destroyed by bureacracy... not at
   >>all what the Internet should be... a lot of people refuse to purchase a .au
   >>extension simply on philosophical grounds.
   >>
   >>To me, perhaps the most significant sign of this "cultural shift" is the
   >>number of small Australian towns registering themselves with a .com or
   >>.org - Six months ago the mindset was that a Council or other body must have
   >>an .au extension so visitors knew they were in Australia...  however
   >>nowadays, (6 months in realtime but 3.5 years later in Internet time),
   >>people are beginning to realise that the domain extension is
   >>insignificant... visitors to a site will read the keywords on a Search
   >>Engine, not the domain extension of the URL... and as more and more Search
   >>Engines don't even list the URL (just a "Click Here" button), the domain
   >>extension has become largely superfluous (at least this is the feedback I am
   >>getting).
   >>
   >>Cheers, Don
   >>
   >>
   >>
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   >
   >**************************************************
   >Nigel Burke
   >Sales Department
   >AVS Network
   >(02) 4283 1582
   >http://avs.net.au
   >**************************************************
   >
   >--
   >This article is not to be reproduced or quoted beyond this forum without
   >express permission of the author.  You don't know who really wrote it.
   >372 subscribers. Archived at http://lists.waia.asn.au/list/dns (dns/dns)
   >Email "unsubscribe" to dns-request&#167;auda.org.au to be removed.
   >
   >