An interesting thing it does not say is that Australian domains have 
a fixed 2 year registration term. The letter says that you can only 
renew 90 days before the domain name, but not that the domain 
registration is for 2 years and only 2 years. Something that I think 
also should have been said.

As the media release said:
--
In summary, Internet Registry Pty Ltd has agreed that it will not in
future send out material that, insofar as it is false or misleading:
[snip]
* represents that domain names can be registered for longer than 2 years
[snip]
Internet Registry Pty Ltd will also send an email to registrants who
have responded to or do respond to its mail out, which clarifies:
[snip]
2.       that the registration of a domain name cannot be renewed until,
at the earliest, 90 days prior to the expiry date of registration of
that domain name;
--

The error here is that Internet Registry have had to say that renewal 
can only happen "90 days prior to expiry" but not that the domain can 
only be registered for 2 years.
:)


At 8:51 PM +1000 30/7/02, Josh Rowe wrote:
>from: http://www.internetregistry.com.au/
>
>----8<----8<----8<----8<----8<----8<----8<----8<----8<----8<----8<----8<
>----8<----8<----
>Clarification of Internet Registry Mail out offer sent on the 25 June
>2002
>
>Internet Registry would like to apologise and offer clarification of a
>mail out that was sent to you on the 25 of June 2002. auDA (the
>governing body of the .au namespace) feels that certain elements of the
>mail out are misleading and Internet Registry seeks to clarify any
>confusion that could have occurred to our clients.
>
>Firstly, Internet Registry operates as a facilitator of domain
>registrations and is not currently a registry or registrar licensed or
>accredited by auDA, nor is it a registrar approved reseller.
>
>Secondly, Australian domain regulations currently are such that a domain
>name cannot be renewed, until at its earliest, 90 days prior to the
>expiry of that domain name. As such, payments that we have currently
>received from you will held by us until your domain is able to be
>renewed.
>
>To prevent any feelings of ill will, Internet Registry will offer a
>refund of the amount you have paid to us for registration, if you
>request us to do so within 14 days of receipt of this email (in line
>with this, after you receive your refund, we will not proceed with your
>registration. So, if you wish to renew your domain name at a later time,
>you will need to do so yourself or engage a service provider to register
>it, and pay the appropriate renewal fees at that time).
>
>Additionally, in the letter you received from us, there may have been
>confusion about the role that Melbourne IT now has. Melbourne IT whilst
>no longer the registry operator for the .com.au namespace continues to
>operate as an auDA accredited registrar for the .com.au namespace.
>
>Internet Registry again apologises if any confusion has arisen for you
>or your company from our mail out and sincerely thanks you for your
>understanding.
>
>Kind regards
>
>Chesley Rafferty
>Managing Director
>Internet Registry Pty Ltd
>----8<----8<----8<----8<----8<----8<----8<----8<----8<----8<----8<----8<
>----8<----8<----
[snip]
-- 
Leefe Hicks - wyvern&#167;tengutech.net
http://www.tengutech.net/wyvern/