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auDA
.au Domain Administation
Senator The Hon
Richard Alston,
Minister for Communications, Information
Technology and the Arts,
Parliament House,
Canberra,
ACT 2600
18 June 2001
Dear Senator Alston,
Re-delegation of .au Country Code Top Level Domain
I refer to the above and the email of 11 June 2001 from Louis Touton of IANA Root Management to Michelle Scott and Donna Austin of NOIE.
Mr Touton's email requests, inter alia, confirmation that auDA and the Australian Government have agreed that auDA will comply with Clause 9 of the GAC Principles. auDA believes that its Constitution and the terms of your letter to us countersigned by our Co-Chair Greg Watson on 31 December 2000 (the Letter) indicate that this is the case. However, for the sake of clarity, I set out below our position on each of the said principles.
GAC Principle 9.1.1 Term, performance clauses, opportunity for review and process for revocation.
auDA believes that these matters are covered to the satisfaction of the Government by the Letter, the provisions of The Telecommunications Amendment Legislation Bill 2000 and Clause 8 of auDA's Constitution.
GAC Principle 9.1.2 A commitment by the delegee to operate the ccTLD in the interest of the relevant local community and the global Internet community.
auDA believes that its Principle Purposes and Activities set out in Clauses 3.1 and 3.2 of its Constitution and, the Letter clearly indicate that auDA will operate the .au ccTLD in the best interests of both the Australian and global Internet community.
GAC Principle 9.1.3 A recognition by the delegee that the management and administration of the ccTLD are subject to the ultimate authority of the relevant government or public authority, and must conform with relevant domestic laws and regulations, and international law and international conventions.
The terms of the Letter clearly state that auDA recognises the ultimate authority of the Government of Australia. As an Australian Company, auDA is bound to conform with all relevant laws and regulations. The relevant international conventions would be those of ICANN and, pursuant to the Letter, auDA has agreed to abide by those.
GAC Principle 9.1.4 Confirmation that the ccTLD is operated in trust in the public interest and that the delegee does not acquire property rights to the ccTLD itself.
In the Letter, auDA recognises that the .au ccTLD is a public resource and must be administered in the public or common interest. This is further confirmed by auDA's non-profit status pursuant to Clause 5 of its Constitution and the Principle Purposes and Activities set out in Clauses 3.1 and 3.2 of its Constitution.
auDA has no property rights to the ccTLD itself and this is demonstrated by the terms of the Letter ("�the management and administration of the au ccTLD are subject to the ultimate authority of the Commonwealth of Australia;") and Clause 8 of its Constitution.GAC Principle 9.1.5 Conditions to ensure the transfer of all relevant DNS data to a nominated replacement, if, for any reason, a reassignment to a new delegee is necessary.
auDA agrees to do this pursuant to bullet point 3 of the Letter.
GAC Principle 9.1.6 Conditions for the efficient and effective resolution of disputes arising from domain name registration. In so far as ccTLD registration policies allow or encourage registrations from entities or individuals resident outside the relevant territory, then the delegee concerned should implement dispute resolution policies that ensure that the interests of all registrants, and of third parties, including those outside their territory and in other jurisdictions, are taken into account. Dispute resolution policies should, to the greatest extent possible, follow common principles, including due regard for internationally recognised intellectual property, consumer protection and other relevant law, and be implemented by all delegees. The delegee should, so far as possible, implement alternative dispute resolution procedures conducted online, without precluding access to court litigation.
All .au registrations require the registrant to be resident in Australia.
Pursuant to Clause 3.1.7 of its Constitution auDA is in the process of establishing an Australian Dispute Resolution Procedure modelled, in the main on WIPO's UDRP which is approved by ICANN.
GAC Principle 9.1.7 The delegee's commitment to abide by ICANN developed policies as set forth in Clause 10.
auDA agrees to do this pursuant to bullet point 2 of the Letter.
GAC Principle 9.1.8 Where ccTLD registration policies allow or encourage registrations from entities or individuals resident outside the relevant territory, the delegee commits to observe all ICANN policies applicable to such ccTLDs, not otherwise provided for in Clause 10, except where the delegee is prohibited by law from, or instructed in writing by the relevant government or public authority to refrain from, implementing such other ICANN policies.
This principle is not applicable to auDA as all .au registrations require the registrant to be resident in Australia.
GAC Principle 9.1.9 The above terms and conditions shall apply to delegees, including delegees who are resident and/or incorporated outside the territory of the relevant local community.
auDA is resident inside the territory.
GAC Principle 9.2 A delegee should not sub-contract part or all of the technical operations of the ccTLD registry without ensuring that the sub-contractor has the technical qualifications required by ICANN, and informing ICANN.
auDA believes that this is implied by Clause 3.1.5 of its Constitution but confirms that it will abide by this principle.
GAC Principle 9.3 In any sub-contracting of the technical operations of the ccTLD registry or administrative and management functions of the ccTLD, the sub-contract must state that the delegation itself is an exercise of a public right, not an item of property, and cannot be reassigned to a new delegee except in accordance with the provisions of Clause 7.
auDA confirms that it will abide by this principle.
I trust that the above is sufficient for you to provide the necessary confirmation to ICANN but, should you require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Yours sincerely
Chris Disspain
CEO - auDA
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