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Aussie govt probes .au amid member revolt

Kevin Murphy, October 25, 2017, 13:38:39 (UTC), Domain Registries

The Australian government has announced a review of local ccTLD .au, to see whether its current oversight by auDA is “fit for purpose”.
The review was announced last week, not too many weeks after a member revolt resulted in the ouster of auDA’s chairman and a number of significant policy U-turns.
The Department of Communications and the Arts said it will “examine the most appropriate framework for the domain” and “identify risk and mitigation strategies for the security and stability of the .au domain.”
The government already has reserve powers over .au under previous legislation.
So far, the exact details of what is to be reviewed are vague.
auDA has faced criticism recently over its increasingly secretive management style — something already being addressed — as well as its decision to open .au up to registrations at the second level.
The membership-based organization has also suffered serious staff churn and the departure of several board members.
auDA said in a statement that it welcomed the review, with interim chair Erhan Karabardak quoted as saying: “It is critical that we have the best possible model for managing the domain, and that our risk and mitigation strategies are among the best in the world.”
The Department said that it expects to “shortly” publish a discussion paper and for the review to conclude early next year.


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