auDA plans to protect existing .com.au domain licences

If your business already owns a .com.au that describes what you sell, such as a plumbing or florist name, you look set to keep it. auDA, which runs the .au domain, now proposes that existing .com.au and .net.au licences carry on under today’s rules.

The change came in an update on its Licensing Rules review on 19 October. It follows the plan we reported in September to remove the rule that lets a domain match what you sell. A petition said that could hit millions of names.

Existing names stay under the old rules

auDA’s statement is plain on the main point: “No current registrant of a domain name licence will be affected by the proposed changes to the allocation criteria.”

It proposes to allow existing .com.au and .net.au licences “to continue to operate under the current allocation rules”. Its updated review FAQs repeat the same wording.

That’s the main shift since September. Back then auDA said only that its implementation plan would consider “appropriate transition arrangements”, without saying what they’d be.

New registrations still change

The rule itself is still set to go for new names. The review panel recommended deleting subparagraph (f) of the Licensing Rules. That’s the option that lets a name come from a service you provide, goods you sell, or an event, activity or premises. auDA plans to consult on that change.

For new registrations, the domain would need to match a personal name, a registered company or business name, or a registered Australian trade mark. auDA’s FAQs say this “removes the option” of qualifying through the name of a service, goods, event, activity or premises.

Some things don’t change:

No exact match needed. Today’s rules don’t need an exact match (it “is not necessary”), and “this is not proposed to change”.
Your business name can include what you sell. For example, a business named “Forexample Publishing” could register forexample.com.au, forexamplepublishing.com.au, forexample-publishing.com.au or publishing.com.au.
Eligibility stays. There are no proposed changes to who can hold a .com.au or .net.au.

If a new business wants a descriptive name that doesn’t match anything it has registered, it could register a business name first. ASIC charges $47 for one year or $108 for three, the FAQs note.

What we still don’t know

auDA hasn’t said how protected names are treated when they’re transferred, such as when you sell the business. The protection is described as applying to existing licences, and the detail will be in the transition plan.

It also hasn’t published a count of names that rely on the rule. SmartCompany reports industry estimates, cited by Optimising founder James Richardson, that two million to 2.7 million names could have been affected under the original proposal. auDA’s FAQs give no number.

Nothing is final yet

auDA says “no final decisions have been made” on the changes or how they’ll be put in place.

Public consultation is “planned to open later this year”. It will include a marked-up version of the Licensing Rules, a proposed implementation plan for the transition, and an explanatory guide. auDA hasn’t given dates. Any rule changes the Board approves will be reviewed by an external panel within five years.

For how .au licences, renewals and transfers work today, see our explainer on .au domain names.

Checklist

Keep your existing .com.au and .net.au names renewed. auDA’s proposal protects current licences. If a name lapses or you drop and re-register it, a new registration would face the proposed matching test.
Check new domain plans against your registered names. Before buying a new .com.au, compare it with your personal name, company name, registered business name or Australian trade mark.
Watch how transfers are treated before selling a business. If a sale or restructure would move a descriptive domain, check the transition plan when auDA publishes it.
Have your say when consultation opens. Check auDA’s Licensing Rules Review page later this year for the marked-up rules and transition plan.