A new policy on transfers of .au domain names will take effect on 1 June 2008.
auDA (the Australian Domain Name Administrator) has announced that key features of the new policy are as follows:
- it will not be allowable to register a domain name for the sole purpose of resale or transfer to a third party
- registrants
will not be able to transfer their domain name for the first 6 months
after the initial registration (this does not apply to domain names
that have been renewed or previously transferred) - after 6
months, registrants will be able to offer their domain name for
sale/transfer by any means (eg. by listing the domain name for sale on
a domain brokerage website, advertising the domain name for sale in a
newspaper, or contacting a prospective buyer directly) - the new registrant must comply with normal eligibility and allocation rules:
registrant transfers will be processed by the registrar of record using a standard transfer form, and the registrar may charge a transfer fee - parties
to a transfer will be asked to disclose the sale method and price, on a
voluntary and confidential basis, so that auDA may collect aggregated
statistical data to improve access to market information for buyers and
sellers.
The current Transfers (Change of Registrant) Policy (2004-03) remains in force until 1 June.