On 20 Dec 2002 at 17:16, Deus Ex Machina wrote:

> 
> hi,
> 
> not so long ago you could buy web hosting on google.com.au, now the name belongs to google.
> 
> the way back machine shows that google.com.au used to contain content for Dedicated Hosting
> prior to the the current google page.
> 
> NSW BN97829549 GOOGLE WEB HOSTING
> which strangely enough also belongs to DEDICATED HOSTING PTY LTD
> 
> the Google web hosting name was deregistered on 24 sep 2002. google australia pty ltd was
> incorporated on 4/10/2002 as a foreign owned company.
> 
> I am very curious how this name went from dedicated hosting pty ltd to "Google INC". given the above
> timing of the deregistration of the business name (which did not expire) and the registration of the
> australian google company.
> 
> given the timing of the above events, its is pretty clear a transfer took place.
> 
> and  from search engine watch:
> 
> GOOGLE has its own issue in having a local Australia site. The company
> is trying to obtain through legal channels the google.com.au domain name,
> which is owned by someone else. This is why it hasn't yet launched a Google
> Australia site, something the audience said it definitely wants, for it would
> make narrowing searches to Australia information easier.
> 
> which confirms some form of transfer did take place.  given auda forbids transfers between unrelated
> companies I am curious as to how this feat was achieved.  did dedicated hosting cancel the name
> allowing google to register it and did money change hands?
> 


But wait there's more.

The domain is registered in the name of an non-existent entity viz. Google Inc. Well at 
least there is no entity of that name registered with ASIC or any of the state business 
names authorities or as an entity with an ABN. Someone should lodge an objection with 
the registrar as to the validity of the registration as the registrant is, in this country, a 
fiction.

(There is a fellow called Montgomery C Hamilton of Victoria who according to 
ABRPublic has a trading name "Google" (Readers will be delighted to know that Monty 
adheres to the great old Aussie rule No. 1 and also trades under the name "I love 
chicks").)

For the record it apparently doesn't matter any more to auDA (and some registrars) that 
you must have some sort of existence as a person or a business entity to register a .au 
domain name. The big claim when .au was hijacked was that the .au domain system 
would have integrity and operate transparently. Well that was a lie it seems. It seems 
that it is now OK to be dead or in the case of a company be deregistered and still 
continue to be the registrant of a domain name.  And when one has the temerity to 
query with auDA why such things are allowed to happen they respond along the lines of 
"we don't have to tell you anything and we'll tell anyone else you might ask to respond 
the same way".  Just the way we expect a fat cat bureaucratic monopoly to act. 


cb