Dear list members,

Coming from a commercial background I have a natural tendency to cringe when
terms like "policy of prohibition" are voiced, and despite understanding the
necessity (at least from one perspective) for this style of policy
formulation, may I ask what considerations/deliberations are underway to
focus on the market impact of these policies?... to move from the technical
and legislative, to the perhaps more "real world" of market needs and
expectations?

Despite honourable intentions, these policies may simply result in driving
the market away from the .au namespace. Corporate Australia is well aware of
our national tendency to legislate rather than to educate... to create
community "rules" rather than promote and instil market awareness and
values... This is whay so many companies (the latest being Mitsubishi in
Victoria) are moving away from this country. We continually take the easy
road at our ultimate expense.

Without a doubt, it is always easier to legislate a solution. Simply make
the rules and create penalties for those who break the rules... and this
works in a closed market or economy, because consumers have no choice but to
obey... However the Internet is not a closed market, nor is it a closed
economy. Consumers and businesses can (and do) simply move off-shore...
simply purchase .com's or other domains reliant on a trust structure rather
than a (typically Australian) legislative framework - in exactly the same
way that Mitsubishi can move off-shore to access a less-legislated
workforce.

Are we legislating the .au namespace out of existence?... or at least out of
being the dominant symbol identifying an Australian Internet presence?

I would really like to see some market research on the trends of acceptance
of .au domains compared to .com domains. Obviously this should take the form
of the number of .au registrations compared with the number of .com
registrations from Australian businesses and consumers over the past 6
months or so. I feel this should be the first step in determining the
appropriateness of any action on our national namespace.  Is this analysis
available?

Cheers, Don