Hi Ginger

Your assertion that there is not a lot of money in selling domain names
in Australia is correct. With 10 players in the market, the competition
will be high and the margins low.  With roughly 250,000 .com.au names
registered at the moment and a total of up to 50,000 other au names;
conservatively you may suggest the numbers don't add up.

Some of the Registrars have entered the market in order to compliment
there existing business in the domain name industry. Others are there to
increase the value of the .au name space through education and
promotion, while planning to remain viable. What is clear is that the
new Registrars are not planning on making millions of dollars in profit
out of the industry. Therefore you may conclude that their intentions
are in at least some ways designed to be a benefit to the industry. The
Registrars that have been appointed by auDA have been appointed on their
ability to benefit the market and their ability to create competition. 

Let's not forget, the Internet is still young. It is now widely used and
accepted, though still has the ability to expand. Competition is needed
for it the Internet in Australia to move forward. It is conceivable that
the new Registrars are there to benefit the industry and the public,
rather than promote scams or defraud the public. Time will tell if it is
going to work and if the individual companies (Registrars) are going to
be financially viable in such a small market (no offence intended to the
industry, though in comparison to some of the other market such as the
.com market, au is currently a small market). What is worthy to note is
that funds will be injected to promote the .au name space, which is good
for Australia. 

Registrars will only be viable if they can increase the number of
.com.au domain names that are registered on annual basis. I think it is
fair to say that more people and businesses will want to (or have been
thinking about) getting online. (The web design industry may take the
lead in this as the policy will be a little more relaxed and .au names
more available).This coupled with increased marketing and awareness,
will mean the size of the market increases. 

As for resellers, there is a good chance that many will stay with MIT.
Large discounts may or may not be available to Resellers, time will
tell. The challenge will be to find new Resellers to take part. Consider
the shift that took place in the mobile phone market when competition
was introduced. The market saw widespread increases and a 'reseller' on
every corner. While the markets are different, the philosophy will be
the same. Over time the number of resellers will increase and the shift
will occur. The resellers may move as they align themselves with local
relationships with local Registrars (Perth for example).

Initially, the 'new world', as it has been put, will see competition on
price and service. In time the market itself may be transformed and
hopefully will be better managed than comparative markets around the
world.

I think that companies who scam the public will hopefully die a quick
death (metaphorically).  Registrars can stop them from being resellers
(if they choose too) though they cannot stop them from registering a
domain on behalf of a Registrant on the Registrars site. Therefore it
will be still up to the public to make the correct decision about who
they choose to register their name with and up to the Registrars to
educate their registrants and the general market.

This change is needed for the industry. There are some new Registrars
whose sole interest is to see the market expand. I think you will find
that the people representing the new Registrars (and Melbourne IT) do
not have hidden agendas, nor any interest in 'scamming' the public, if
they do, they will loose their accreditation.

auDA needed to make this decision for the benefit of registrants. The
policy changes may also increase the number of domains registered and
therefore the size of the market. At the end of the day, the Registrant
(the public) benefits through competition, an up to date and stable DNS
(provided by AusRegistry) and increased opportunity to take part in the
Internet.

Lets give the new system a go, by looking long term.  Who knows, it may
work. 

Cheers

Marty

(Please note: Nexsta is a provisionally accredited Registrar).

-----Original Message-----
From: ginger FISH [mailto:cyrille.lefevre§scifi-art.com] 
Sent: Friday, 7 June 2002 10:42 PM
To: dns§lists.auda.org.au
Subject: RE: [DNS] registrars and resellers

Yeah, but there's not way in hell you're gong to find resellers to make
a
living with "backdoors deals", unless some self regulated administration
somewhere will pay registrars for their survival ( actually, that's what
they do in Formula one sometimes with teams that are the back of the
grid
with a shoe string budget ) ... but surely this industry is a lot less
exciting than a good ol' race ... but that was a serious question I was
asking, how can you make a buck as a new registrar ( not with id.au
anyway ,
it's not going to work ) ? or basically, what's so exciting about
becoming a
registrar ?

Ginger

-----Original Message-----
From: Dave Hooper [mailto:dave§davehooper.net]
Sent: Friday, June 07, 2002 10:32 PM
To: dns§lists.auda.org.au
Subject: RE: [DNS] registrars and resellers


Ginge,

What do you think will change, if anything, in the 'new world'?

The same players, the same scammers, the same 'back door deals' we have
seen all too frequently.

Dave Hooper




> -----Original Message-----
> From: ginger FISH [mailto:cyrille.lefevre§scifi-art.com]
> Sent: Friday, 7 June 2002 10:20 PM
> To: Dns§Lists. Auda. Org. Au
> Subject: [DNS] registrars and resellers
>
>
> G'day
>
> I was wondering.
> We're going to have a few new registrars and a new registry.
> My question is :
> How are new registrars going to get resellers ?
>
> Option 1 : Go direct with existing resellers of Melbourne-IT
> and offering better prices. Option 2 : Advertisement on TV,
> Radio, .... Option 3 : scammers
>
> Option 1 : it is too much of a hassle to go to another
> registrar especially when you have quite a few domain names,
> and knowing that you cannot move them before they lapse. For
> a better price of a few bucks compared to Melbourne-It's
> prices, i don't think anybody would even bother thinking
> about moving, that would have to be at least $10 to $15 less
> i reckon...
>
> Option 2 : Who's got the money to do that anyway ? There
> aren't dozens of domain reg businesses created everyday , and
> even if the new registrars get a few guys that are going to
> register say 1 or 2 domains a week ( which is what is
> happening  with small resellers ), that's not going to make a
> buck for a registrar .... ( which probably why they're all
> going to fall like flies within 12 months )
>
> Options 3 : We know who they are and what they do, the public
> knows too, and the ACCC is shutting will soon be shuting them
> down one by one anyway ...
>
>
> so How ?
> If anybody has an idea, I'd like to hear it please, I am interested.
>
>
> Best Regards
> Ginger FISH
>
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------
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>
>



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