Scott Howard wrote:
> 
> If you had done even a tiny amount of research, or used a little common
> sense, you would have realised why there are so few domains in .AU.
> 
> The .AU top level domain is setup the way DNS was intended - in an
> hierarchical fashion.
> 
> .AU contains 8 active domains
> .NET.AU contains thousands of domains
> .COM.AU contains 10's of thousands of domains
> (I'm guessing here, but I'd say those figures are in the right ball-park)

Well, I did know that. Thanks for remembering me.

> 
> > Aren't there any Australian company, or organization, which would want
> > to
> > have its site under its .AU name ?
> 
> There are literally thousands of companies with their sites under .AU,
> just not directly under .AU.
> 
> > http://www.ibm.fr
> > http://www.lotus.fr
> > http://www.apple.fr
> > http://www.coca-cola.fr
> 
> ibm.com.au, lotus.com.au, apple.com.au and coke.com.au all exist, all exactly
> where they should under .COM.AU

Wouldn't it be better for such BIG names to exist directly under .AU ?

> 
> > You'd benefit from a .AU zone really competitive...
> 
> No, we wouldnt. We would benefit from a competitive .COM.AU domain, but I
> doubt anyone will argue too hard about that...

Mmm. I think you're missing a point : ccTLDs currently are the only
"official" alternative to US-managed gTLDs.
The more names there will be under ccTLDs (and alternate gTLDs), the
better it will be for international DNS management...

Names that are directly under a TLD are more "mediatic"...

Moreover, if ccTLDs can't compete against gTLDs, there will probably be
more ccTLDs hijacked by private interests. Not a good thing for the
countries concerned.

-- 
Jean-Christophe PRAUD - LUDEXPRESS  http://www.ludexpress.com
http://www.nicwine.net     http://www.nic.wine     3:213 WINE
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu n'gah Bill R'lyeh Wgah'nagl fhtagn