Changes

==History==

==History==

===Australian Domain Name Administration===

===Australian Domain Name Administration===

The Australian Internet community realized that the responsibility of administering the .au ccTLD can no longer be handled by Mr. Elz alone, due to the increasing number of registrants, and decided to establish a private-sector self-regulatory body capable of administering the ccTLD. The new body would be more accountable to the community through the assistance of the Australian government.<ref>[http://www.iana.org/reports/2001/au-report-31aug01.html IANA Report]</ref>

The Australian Internet community realized that the responsibility of administering the .au ccTLD can no longer be handled by Mr. Elz alone, due to the increasing number of registrants, and decided to establish a private-sector self-regulatory body capable of administering the ccTLD. The new body would be more accountable to the community through the assistance of the Australian government.<ref name="iana">[http://www.iana.org/reports/2001/au-report-31aug01.html IANA.org, Report]</ref>

In 1997, the '''Australian Domain Name Administration (ADNA)''' was formed to ensure the operations of a functional Internet naming system in Australia for the .au domain. However,the ADNA Board eventually concluded that organization did not have the necessary authority to effectively operate and be accountable to the local Internet community. They decided to seek the assistance of the Australian National Office for the Information Economy (NOIE) and the Ministry of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts to facilitate the development of an effective Internet industry self-regulatory body and to supervise the transfer of delegation for the administration of the .au domain space to the new organization.<ref>[http://www.iana.org/reports/2001/au-report-31aug01.html IANA Report]</ref>

In 1997, the '''Australian Domain Name Administration (ADNA)''' was formed to ensure the operations of a functional Internet naming system in Australia for the .au domain. However,the ADNA Board eventually concluded that organization did not have the necessary authority to effectively operate and be accountable to the local Internet community. They decided to seek the assistance of the Australian National Office for the Information Economy (NOIE) and the Ministry of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts to facilitate the development of an effective Internet industry self-regulatory body and to supervise the transfer of delegation for the administration of the .au domain space to the new organization.<ref name="iana"></ref>

===auDA===

===auDA===

In 1999, the .au Domain Administration was created after the Australian government, through the '''NOIE''', agreed to help in developing a self-regulatory body to assume the responsibilities of Mr. Elz to manage the .au ccTLD. Mr. Elz sub-delegated to auDA on November 15, 1999. In October, 2000, .auDA submitted a comprehensive report that the organization met the objectives necessary to receive government endorsement to assume the responsibilities to manage the .au ccTLD. By December, 2000, '''Sen. Richard Alston''', Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts formally endorsed auDA as the appropriate entity to administer of the .au ccTLD.<ref>[http://www.iana.org/reports/2001/au-redelegation/alston-to-watson-31dec00.html Endorsement Letter]</ref>

In 1999, the .au Domain Administration was created after the Australian government, through the '''NOIE''', agreed to help in developing a self-regulatory body to assume the responsibilities of Mr. Elz to manage the .au ccTLD. Mr. Elz sub-delegated to auDA on November 15, 1999. In October, 2000, .auDA submitted a comprehensive report that the organization met the objectives necessary to receive government endorsement to assume the responsibilities to manage the .au ccTLD. By December, 2000, '''Sen. Richard Alston''', Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts formally endorsed auDA as the appropriate entity to administer of the .au ccTLD.<ref>[http://www.iana.org/reports/2001/au-redelegation/alston-to-watson-31dec00.html IANA.org, Endorsement Letter]</ref>

==Role of auDA==

==Role of auDA==

==.au==

==.au==

The .au ccTLD was established in 1986 and it was delegated to [[Robert Elz]], a network programmer at the University of Melbourne. He served as manager of .au ccTLD in a volunteer capacity. During his management of the ccTLD, it underwent a tremendous growth. As a result, eleven [[SLD|second-level domains]] were established under .au, which include asn.au, com.au, conf.au, csiro.au, edu.au, gov.au, id.au, info.au, net.au, org.au, and oz.au.<ref>[http://www.iana.org/reports/2001/au-report-31aug01.html IANA Report]</ref>

The .au ccTLD was established in 1986 and it was delegated to [[Robert Elz]], a network programmer at the University of Melbourne. He served as manager of .au ccTLD in a volunteer capacity. During his management of the ccTLD, it underwent a tremendous growth. As a result, eleven [[SLD|second-level domains]] were established under .au, which include asn.au, com.au, conf.au, csiro.au, edu.au, gov.au, id.au, info.au, net.au, org.au, and oz.au.<ref name="iana"></ref>

The .au ccTLD is one of the top 10 largest country codes in world, with more 2.3 million registered domain names as of March 2011, which was up a 600% increase from 2002.<ref>[http://www.auda.org.au/news-archive/auda-08032011/ auDA News Archive]</ref><ref>[http://www.thedomains.com/2012/01/19/new-report-au-domain-space-brought-half-a-billion-dollars-to-australias-economy-in-2011/ New Report au Domain Space Brought Half a Billion Dollars to Australias Economy in 2011, TheDomains.com]</ref>

The .au ccTLD is one of the top 10 largest country codes in world, with more 2.3 million registered domain names as of March 2011, which was up a 600% increase from 2002.<ref>[http://www.auda.org.au/news-archive/auda-08032011/ auDA News Archive]</ref><ref>[http://www.thedomains.com/2012/01/19/new-report-au-domain-space-brought-half-a-billion-dollars-to-australias-economy-in-2011/ New Report au Domain Space Brought Half a Billion Dollars to Australias Economy in 2011, TheDomains.com]</ref>

==.auDA and ICANN==

==.auDA and ICANN==

On May 28, 2001, .auDA requested [[IANA]] to re-delegate the .au ccTLD to the organization and subsequently, on June 18th, 2001, [[Chris Disspain]], auDA's CEO, asked the Australian government through Senator Alston to communicate its endorsement to ICANN.<ref>[http://www.iana.org/reports/2001/au-redelegation/disspain-to-alston-18jun01.html Letter from Chris Disspain to Senator Richard Alston]</ref>

On May 28, 2001, .auDA requested [[IANA]] to re-delegate the .au ccTLD to the organization and subsequently, on June 18th, 2001, [[Chris Disspain]], auDA's CEO, asked the Australian government through Senator Alston to communicate its endorsement to ICANN.<ref>[http://www.iana.org/reports/2001/au-redelegation/disspain-to-alston-18jun01.html IANA.org, Letter from Chris Disspain to Senator Richard Alston]</ref>

On July 4th, 2001, Senator Alston wrote to [[ICANN]] and formally confirmed the Australian government's endorsement to auDA as the new organization responsible in managing the .au ccTLD.<ref>[http://www.iana.org/reports/2001/au-redelegation/alston-to-lynn-04jul01.html Letter from Senator Richard Alston to Stuart Lynn]</ref>

On July 4th, 2001, Senator Alston wrote to [[ICANN]] and formally confirmed the Australian government's endorsement to auDA as the new organization responsible in managing the .au ccTLD.<ref>[http://www.iana.org/reports/2001/au-redelegation/alston-to-lynn-04jul01.html IANA.org, Letter from Senator Richard Alston to Stuart Lynn]</ref>

On October 25, 2001, [[ICANN]] approved the redelegation of the .au ccTLD to .auDA under a sponsorship agreement.<ref>[http://www.icann.org/en/cctlds/au/sponsorship-agmt-25oct01.htm .au ccTLD Sponsorship Agreement]</ref>

On October 25, 2001, [[ICANN]] approved the redelegation of the .au ccTLD to .auDA under a sponsorship agreement.<ref>[http://www.icann.org/en/cctlds/au/sponsorship-agmt-25oct01.htm .au ccTLD Sponsorship Agreement]</ref>