> Just my 2c here, but I think that is a load of crock. Have you *seen*
> the state of .com ? (snip) I normally don't speak up about DNS issues, but
you'd think that people
> would learn from history..

Lot's of crocks around here :), but I happen to think that this statement is
a load of crock, because history is... Suppliers meet market demands. That's
the lesson the .au administrators must learn.

ISP's are suppliers in today's market, and the market does not want slow,
confusing, or cumbersome systems on the Internet. The market also could not
give a hoot over the complexities and (possible) mismanagement  of the .com
namespace. There may be a minority of ISP's and other "in the know" who
rightly worry about this, but the masses in the market couldn't care less...
they just want to be able to register a domain name easily, economicaly, and
in the knowledge that what they are buying provides value for money.

It will be great if the .au namespace becomes so finely regulated that every
domain purchased truly reflects the credentials of the company using it...
however who is going to sell these fantastic domains?... ISP's are fed up
with the bureaucracy and the "hassle" of registering these... Domain sales
are indicating that increasingly, the market don't want to know about
them... and of course, as with any product or service, there are competitors
in the market (.com's and .au.com's)... so I go back to my original point...
who is marketing the benefits of the .au namespace? - It's not exactly good
business practice to expect the market to support a product that is not even
advertised or promoted (business management - marketing a product 101).

My thoughts? - I don't think the administrators want people to purchase .au
Domains... how could I think otherwise? - they are not advertised... (who is
putting pressure on Telstra to promote "Telstra.com.au"?) ISP's are not
given any incentives to sell them... and they are increasingly harder to
obtain. OK, the market rules - it's simple. Do what the administrators
want... Don't sell them.

Does the term "white elephant" ring a bell?

Cheers, Don