We’re Not Stalling .au Competition: Alston

[Sydney, AUSTRALIA] Minister for Communications Richard Alston
has answered accusations that the government was trying to delay
competition in the .au domain name market. “Contrary to media reports, both
the Government and auDA remain
committed to the introduction of competition in a hurry, subject to the
development of a sound competition model, formulated through an open and
consultative policy process.”

Last week australia.internet.com published comments by Larry Bloch,
managing director of NetRegistry, claiming such
processes were unnecessary for the implementation of competition. “Its not
like we’re talking about the deregulation of the telecommunications
industry, which affected every aspect of our lives,” said Bloch. “This is
relatively simple.”

There was a slap on the wrist for Professor Peter Gerrand too, as the
government claimed that reported comments from the Melbourne IT chief executive were
incorrect. “Far from extending or securing Melbourne IT’s monopoly until
October 2001, the agreement simply clarifies auDA’s decision that
additional registrars will not be licensed until a competition model for
.au is developed.”

Alston pointed out that auDA has signed similar agreements with registrars
of net.au, asn.au and csiro.au, which will provide the 20 percent of its
funding not supplied by Melbourne IT, along with gov.au and edu.au
providers which are yet to sign an agreement.