Geoff,
I there is anything I can do to help I will.  Clearly if multiple registrars are
going to operate, the criteria for

*which entities are entitled to names in a SLD
*which names they are entitled to

need to be unambiguously defined.

My suggestion, based on the struggles we've had trying to do this
for the commercial domains, is:

*Firstly, always use an externally defined list.

So for something like .edu.au, it might be

"Any entity that is accredited by Australian Federal or State government
to provide Primary, Secondary, or Tertiary Education.  Some checking
with a state government or two on what types of accreditation they
give would help clarify the wording and make it specific."

for .asn.au it might be something like:

"Any entity that is classed as 'non-profit' by the Australian Taxation Office"

Again, some discussions with ATO would help to understand what the options
are.  It's also worth noting that individual State Governments also classify
organisations as 'non-profit' (ie. they don't have to pay State FID taxes, etc)
and its probably worth checking that the definitions don't conflict with the ATO.

* Secondly, unless its real easy to automatically check an externally maintained
database (like checking business names or ACN's), the onus should be on
the User applying for the domain name to warrant that they meet the criteria,
rather than on competing Registrars to try and check the validity of User data.

That means a bit of thought does need to go into the 'User Warranty' part
of the process so that it is absolutely clear that the User is being issued
the domain name based on the data that has been provided and that the
domain name may be revoked if the data is found to be incorrect or changed
(ie. what if two years later a non-profit entity converts to something who's
objective is to make its owners stinking rich?).

Without the User agreeing/signing that the domain name is issued subject
to them continuing to meet the rules, the Registrars are left wide open
to messy entanglements if they try and enforce rules later on.  Registrars
have rights too, and should be spared this sort of mess by well
thought out initial procedures.

Regards, Mark









-----Original Message-----
From:	Geoff Huston [SMTP:gih§telstra.net]
Sent:	Friday, May 08, 1998 8:37 AM
To:	dns§iia.net.au
Subject:	Re: DNS: Multiple Registrars in .asn.au, .edu.au, .gov.au

Mark,
 
>Good luck folks

Thanks for your expression of support!

    Geoff