According to the Oxford Dictionary, a “sham” means; “A thing that is not what it is purported to be“.
Keep that in mind as you read on.
Currently on their website, auDA are proclaiming they’re “seeking public feedback on a change to the rules regarding appointments to the Licence Review Panel under the yet to be commenced .au Domain Administration Rules: Licensing. As an outcome of the auDA Board meeting on 23 September 2020, the Board approved seeking public comment on this change for 21 days.”
On the same page, they state the change they are seeking public feedback for is to change the following wording;
On the same page, they state the public has 10 hours left today (18 Nov 2020) to “submit your feedback” on this change;
However…
If we look at the official auDA Board Minutes posted here from the 12th October, 2020, (over a month ago!) auDA state;
And although auDA are asking for public consultation, due by close of business today, if we look at the current PUBLISHED .au Domain Administration Rules: Licensing (12 Oct 2020 – Page 49), we can clearly see…
This means…
THE BOARD HAS ALREADY APPROVED THE CHANGES OVER A MONTH AGO AND THEY HAVE ALREADY IMPLEMENTED THE CHANGES AND THEY HAVE ALREADY PUBLISHED THEM IN THE NEW LICENSING RULES (3.8.15 – Page 49).
So…
Although you have until 5pm TODAY to submit your feedback on the change… it appears you’ll be wasting your time as the change has already been railroaded through.
According to the Oxford Dictionary, a “sham” means; “A thing that is not what it is purported to be“.
Is this public consultation currently being held by auDA a sham?
Are there more instances in the past where “Public Consultations” have been called for by auDA, where perhaps they’ve already made the changes ahead of time and ahead of receiving public feedback?
Hi Robert,
Are there more instances?
Yes a couple more changes were included without feedback.
(1) Definition of “Match” was included without the public being aware.
(2) Definition of “Exact Match” was changed, removing “commercial status identifiers such as ‘Pty Ltd’;
(3) An entirely New clause was inserted;
2.4.5 Sub-paragraph 2.4.4(2) does not apply where a Person has established an Australian presence by relying on an Australian Trade Mark, the domain name must be an exact match to the words which are the subject matter of the Australian Trade Mark
(3) Definition of “Monetization” was changed with the removal of two clauses; (July 2020)
(a) Domain leasing where the domain name is rented to advertisers or other interested parties;
(b) Domain purchasing and resale where a domain name’s value can increase over time and it is sold once its value has increased.
Changes to the proposed Licencing Rules were made without a whisper from this New Administrator. Meanwhile, a simple three word update for “appointments to the licencing panel” are put to public consultation.
Where is the promised transparency?