> Of K Heitman & Co wrote:
> >K Heitman & Co wrote:
> >> That's unreal. The Federal Government asserts control of the .au
> >> domain space, and has appointed auDA to manage the .au namespace on
> >> behalf of Her Majesty.
> >
> >It is ICANN that allows auDA to run .au, the Federal Government
> >simply endorsed auDA as their choice to run .au.
>
> Ah, but what an endorsement. The Federal Government does assert
> ownership of .au, see the Telecommunications Act Part 22, Division 3.
> Had auDA not taken steps to become inclusive of all stakeholders and
> to have transparent and independent policy development processes, the
> endorsement would not have been awarded. The Federal Government's
> endorsement of auDA is not unconditional nor irrevocable.

>From an unpublished paper of mine, fwiw:

The Australian Government endorsed auDA in 2000 as the appropriate entity to
hold the delegation of authority from ICANN for administration of the .au
ccTLD (2000b).  ICANN entered into a ccTLD Sponsorship Agreement for .au
with auDA on 25 October 2001 (ICANN, 2001a & 2001b).

Ian Johnston

--

Notes:

1. Alston, R. (2000b), Letter to Chairman of au Domain Administration from
Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, December
2000, www.auda.org.au/pdf/auda-govt-endorse.pdf (accessed 27 Sep 2005)

>From this letter:

... After considering auDA's report and the information contained therein,
it gives me great pleasure to communicate to you the endorsement of the
Commonwealth of Australia (the Commonwealth) of auDA as the appropriate to
hold the delegation of authority by the Internet Corporation for Assigned
Names and Numbers (ICANN) for administrative authority of the au country
code top level domain (ccTLD).

The Commonwealth's endorsement of auDA as the appropriate entity to hold the
delegation of authority for administration of the au ccTLD is subject at all
times to auDA
operating within the provisions of its company constitution and to the
fulfilment by auDA of the following conditions:

- Given that the Internet naming system is a public resource in the sense
that its functions must be administered in the public or common interest,
auDA recognises
that the management and administration of the au ccTLD are subject to the
ultimate authority of the Commonwealth of Australia; ...

2. Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) (2001a),
Announcement: ccTLD Agreement Signed with auDA,
www.icann.org/announcements/announcement-25oct01.htm (accessed 27 Sep 2005)

>From this announcement:

3. Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) (2001b),
ccTLD Sponsorship Agreement (.au), 25 October 2001,
www.icann.org/cctlds/au/sponsorship-agmt-25oct01.htm (accessed 27 Sep 2005)