On Wed, Jan 16, 2002 at 08:03:47AM +0800, Kim Davies wrote:
> The so-called "specialist" would be ill-advised in telling their
> customer that a generic was available for purchase in the first place.

It's never been possible to tell which names MelbIT will
consider "generic" in advance of them actually making that
determination. So it is not possible for anybody to state
definitively that a name is available for purchase, before
actually trying to do so.

It's self-evident that most people who attempt to register a
name and are knocked back by MelbIT either are (a) unaware of the
generics rule, or (b) believe their name is not generic. There's
only a third category, those who believe their name is generic,
and hope MelbIT will make a mistake.

> Thanks for your hypothetical, but how do you propose would be a fairer
> way to release the generic domains?

Register the name for free to the first prior applicant. If they
don't want it, continue down the list until you find an applicant
who wants it. If no applicants want it for free, then release it
for general registration.

Nick.