AU: Aussie Domain Registrar Sued

[Bala Pillai <bala@apic.net>]

iiNet Technologies Pty Ltd
Media Release March 10th 1997 

FEES FOR COM.AU DOMAINS ATTACKED

      iiNet Technologies, a Perth based ISP, has commenced
      proceedings in the Federal Court in response to
      Melbourne Information Technology Australia's demands
      for license fees for Australian Domain Names from
      commercial organisations. 

      Melbourne IT has threatened to remove commercial
      domain names, those ending in "COM.AU", from its
      database, unless a license fee is paid by March 17, 1997. If
      this occurs, these organisations will effectively be
      removed from the Internet. 

      iiNet is seeking a permanent injunction preventing
      Melbourne IT, from deleting existing domain names,
      claiming that this action would cause immeasurable
      damage to affected organisations, and that the cost to
      Melbourne IT of leaving the domain names alone is
      negligible. 

      Opposition to Melbourne IT's move is mounting, with the
      Western Australian and South Australian Internet
      Associations comdemning their conduct. 

      Simon Hackett, president of the SAIA, in a statement
      supporting the injunction describes the fees as "highly
      excessive", and adds that "there is no doubt that a
      significant number of companies in Australia will be
      adversely affected by this action and that real business
      damage will result if it is taken... the real cost of leaving
      unclaimed names un-touched in the existing domain name
      servers is trivial". 

      Paul McCutcheon, secretary of WAIA, directed a letter to
      Melbourne IT on January 17, 1997, claiming "the billing
      of clients who have previously received the entry at no
      cost ... can only draw suspicion, at least until there is a
      competitive environment". 

      The Internet Society of Australia has also directed a letter
      to Melbourne IT, endorsing a fair alternative to
      Melbourne IT's current plans. At the DNS forum in
      January, Michael Malone of iiNet suggested that domain
      names that failed to renew should simply receive no
      further service from Melbourne IT. Should they require
      service, then they would need to renew with Melbourne
      IT. This was initially considered acceptable to all parties,
      but Melbourne IT later rejected the proposal. 

      Mr Malone said that "Melbourne IT has proved
      unresponsive to widespread industry opposition to this
      opportunistic move. Other suggestions have been made,
      which even Peter Gerrand - CEO of Melbourne IT, has
      referred to as "fair", but at the end of the day their eyes are
      firmly focussed on the million dollars they stand to make
      from this." 

      In an amusing commentary on the issue, Melbourne IT's
      own list of "Frequently Asked Questions" asks "Why do
      existing domain names need to be re-registered by March
      1997?". Of the 43 questions in this FAQ, this is the only
      one in which the answer is left blank. It seems that even
      Melbourne IT themselves don't know why they are doing
      this. 

      iiNet Technologies is an Internet Service Provider started in 1993. It
      provides equitable Internet access in Western Australia and South
      Australia, as well as many value added Internet services. 

      Contact 
           Michael Malone, (09) 322-7770,
           mmalone@iinet.net.au
           Kim Davies, (09) 322-7770, 04 1986 4051,
           kim@west.net.au 

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