DomainName.edu.au - Policy 1: .edu.au Policy and Governance Framework

Note: Policy for the closed .edu.au domain space was developed with reference to auDA Policy 2002-07: Domain Name Eligibility and Allocation Policy Rules for Open 2LDs.

1. Purpose

To outline:

policy for the allocation of domain names in the .edu.au domain space to eligible organisations in the Australian education and training sector;
the governance of the .edu.au domain space;
policy for the resolution of disputes and handling of disputes in respect of .edu.au

2. Eligibility for Registration in the .edu.au Domain

edu.au domain name licences may only be issued to recognised Australian education and training entities, ie:
1. Recognised education and training institutions and providers operating in Australia listed in Policy 2: .edu.au Eligibility Policy.
2. Associations and organisations whose primary purpose is the provision of education, training, research, special education projects (of limited time frame) and/or related services in Australia.
1. In order to be issued with a .edu.au domain name, the organisation applying to register a domain name which refers to an education project or programme must be the owner of principal administrator of that educational project or programme.
2. Universities and bodies with national interests and responsibilities will be registered at the third level (anyname.edu.au).
3. Vocational Education and Training institutions and training organisations as defined in Policy 2: .edu.au Eligibility Policy, who deliver education and training services in more than one state or territory, will be registered at the third level (anyname.edu.au) if they request it. If do not specifically request it, they will be registered at the fourth level.(anyname.anystate.edu.au)
4. All Schools and pre-schools will be registered at the fourth level. (anyname.anystate.edu.au)
  Note: International delivery of education services by a state/territory based body does not in itself qualify for a third level domain name, unless an institution operates in more than one state/territory.
When a person believes that a registrant is not eligible to hold an .edu.au domain name licence, that person should contact the .edu.au Registrar.

3. .edu.au Registration Process

An applicant for .edu.au domain names is required to complete a Registration Form, in which they provide evidence of their credentials for registration in the .edu.au domain space.
An applicant has to then submit the completed registration electronically to the Registrar through http://www.domainname.edu.au
Registrar acknowledges receipt of application for registration.
Registrar checks the applicant’s eligibility.
Registrar makes decision on application and advises the applicant.
If the application is accepted:
1. The applicant is required to complete a Registration Agreement, which includes an undertaking by the applicant that, should a licence be granted to them, it will be for the exclusive use of the requesting organisation and for the purposes detailed in the application for registration.
Details of successful application entered on AusRegistry database.
If application is not accepted:
1. Applicant is provided with reason(s) and information on the complaint and/or dispute process, as appropriate.
2. Registrar enters record of rejected Application in Rejections Register and copies that to AICTEC.

4. Composition of a Domain Name

An edu.au domain name must:
1. Be from 2 to 63 characters long;
2. Contain only letters (a-z), numbers (0-9) and hyphens (-), or a combination of these;
3. Not contain hyphens in the third and fourth position (eg ab-cd.com.au);
4. Start and end with a number or a letter, not a hyphen; and
5. Not fall into the category of Unacceptable Names listed below.
Applicants must also take into account that Domain names may refer either to the name of the applying organisation or to an educational project or program:
1. Where a domain name refers to the name of the applying organisation, it must either:
  1. exactly match the applying organisation’s name, or
  2. be substantially and closely connected to the name of the registrant’s entity, or be an acronym or abbreviation of the registrant’s entity name.
2. Where a domain name refers to an educational project or program, there must be a semantic relationship between the name and the project or program.
  1. To the extent that many education and training institutions include geographic reference in their domain names, Australian geographic names will not be excluded.
  2. The Commonwealth Department of Education, Science and Training regulates the use of the title 'university’ on behalf of the Minister. Under the Corporations Law only bodies conforming with the definition would be able to use the term 'university’ in their domain name.

5. Unacceptable Names

The following classes of names may not be registered in edu.au:

No two .edu.au domain names can be exactly the same.
Personal names, except that Names which constitute the title of an educational institution are not regarded as 'personal names’ in this context eg 'Edith Cowan University’.
Names containing obscene or offensive language, or otherwise deemed by the Registrar as being likely to compromise the reputation of .edu.au.
Names expressing a value judgment or political statement. For example, clevercountry.edu.au, nofees.edu.au or backtobasics.edu.au.
Names which are included in auDA’s Reserved List Policy (Policy No.2002-30) subject to the conditions set that:
1. The auDA Board has determined that, as a general principle, the Reserved List for .au will contain only words and phrases that are restricted under Commonwealth legislation. The .edu.au Registrar will refer to auDA’s Reserved List when considering an application for a .edu.au domain name. From time to time, auDA may update the Reserved List in line with any amended or new Commonwealth legislation, and to include any new gTLDs or ccTLDs.
2. A registrant may license a domain name that contains a word or phrase on the Reserved List, provided they can demonstrate to AICTEC that they are authorised to do so under the relevant Commonwealth legislation.
Generic educational and training words (eg school, teacher, principal, headmaster, student, vice-chancellor, academic, tutor, lecturer) and generic science words (eg research, science, gene, science-awareness), should not by themselves feature as 3LD or 4LD names in the .edu.au domain.
edu.au Policy 5: edu.au Reserved List Policy contains further information.

6. Fees

The .edu.au Registrar reserves the right to charge fees to licence holders upon the initial issue and/or renewal of licence.

Entities which already have an edu.au domain name at the time that this policy takes effect (ie on 6 May 2003) will be required to renew their licences under the terms and conditions of this policy and will be liable for fees from 6 May 2004. They will not be subject to the requirements of this policy until they are required to renew their licences.

7. Licence

Licences are granted for a period of 2 years (including national projects with a shorter timeframe), after which they must be renewed. It is not possible to license an .edu.au domain name for a shorter or longer period.

Renewal of an .edu.au domain name licence at the end of the 2 year period is dependent on the registrant continuing to meet the .edu.au domain eligibility and allocation rules.

The terms and conditions of an .edu.au domain licence are set out in the registration application and subsequent agreement between a registrant and the .edu.au Registrar.

There is no hierarchy of rights in the .edu.au domain space. The use of a trademark or business name does not imply authority to use of a domain name. Domain name licences are allocated on a 'first come, first served’ basis. Provided the relevant eligibility rules are satisfied, the first registrant to apply for a particular domain name will be permitted to license it. It is not possible to pre-register or otherwise reserve an .edu.au domain name.

Because the registrant does not have a proprietary right in the domain name, it is not legally possible for the registrant to 'sell’ the domain name. By offering to sell their domain name to another party, the registrant is in breach of the terms and conditions of their domain name licence.

The licence to use an .edu.au domain name can be transferred to another party, but only in the circumstances set out in Transfers (Change of Registrant) Policy for .edu.au. (Policy 8).

There is no restriction on the number of domain name licences that may be held by a registrant.

If a domain name is already licensed, or if an application is pending for that name, no further applications will be accepted for that name until the name is either revoked or the pending application declined. If an application is declined (or a domain name removed), the domain name is made available in accordance with the .edu,au policy set out below.

Current registrants will receive notification and request for payment. The Schedule for payments and non-payments follows:

Notification Period (90 days)
Registrants will be notified of Expiry Due date for the domain name licence, and presented with an invoice. The registrant should pay by the Expiry date. A licence certificate will be issued after payment.

Reminder Period (14 days)
Fourteen days prior to the Expiry Date a reminder notice is sent. If payment is not made by the Expiry Date, then the domain name will not function after the Expiry Date.

Pending Deletion Period (60 days)
At the end of this period, if payment has not been received, the domain will not operate. It will be deleted from the database and will become available for other entities to request and licence.

The licence to use the .edu.au domain name can be terminated for reasons outlined in the table below:

Reason	Description
Fee not paid	Where the prescribed fee is not paid within the required time.
Breach of warranty	Where the warranty supplied by the applicant or their agent is breached.
Court decision	Where a court of competent authority determines that the domain name should not be licensed to the current licensee, be removed from the registry, or be licensed to another party.
Name Change	Where the business name used by the licensee to obtain the domain name is changed, or if the licence to use the registered business name ceases.
Instruction	Where the Registrar is so instructed by the current licensee of the domain name.
Error	Where a domain name which could not otherwise be registered under this policy is registered through mistake, oversight or otherwise (within thirty days of registering the domain name): The administrator may send notice (of not less than thirty days) stating the intention to cancel the registration, and stating the reasons for the proposed cancellation. The administrator may remit the fee payable for the new domain name in place of the cancelled domain name.

8. Administrative services for .edu.au

Contact
1. All enquiries and business connected with the .edu.au domain space should be directed to the .edu.au Registrar:
  
  edu.au Domain Registrar
  c/- education.au limited
  Level 1, 182 Fullarton Road
  Dulwich SA 5065
  
  Phone: (08) 8334 3210
  Email: registrar@educationau.edu.au
Registrar
It is the Registrar’s duty to:
1. issue domain names in the designated 2LD;
2. make decisions on registration in the .edu.au domain space in accordance with the provisions set out in the .edu.au Policy and Guidelines;
3. check that the registrant is eligible for the .edu.au domain name;
4. update information in the Registry database on behalf of the registrant;
5. comply with the National Privacy Principles and legislation in the conduct of .edu.au domain business.
The .edu.au Registrar must work to:
1. operate in good faith and according to the practices and rules set out in the .edu.au policy documents;
2. conduct .edu.au business procedures in a professional manner, with no negligent or reckless actions resulting in the approval of a domain name application in breach of the relevant policy rules;
3. promote the confidence of users of the .edu.au domain space; and
4. advance the reputation and standing of the .edu.au domain space.
Registry
1. The .edu.au Registry operator manages and maintains the database that contains the .edu.au domain names registered by the .edu.au Registrar on behalf of Registrants. The .edu.au Registry operator is licensed by auDA which has procured Registry services for the designated 2LD on AICTEC’s behalf.
Registrant
1. An entity granted an .edu.au domain name licence is subsequently referred to as a 'registrant’.
2. There are no proprietary rights in the domain name system (DNS). A registrant does not 'own’ a domain name. Instead, the registrant holds a licence to use a domain name, for a specified period of time and under certain terms and conditions.
3. It is the responsibility of all registrants to comply with .edu.au policy as outlined in their registration application and subsequent agreement. To that end, registrants are required to warrant to the .edu.au Registrar that they satisfy the rules.
4. Registrant Data is not proprietary information and is held by auDA for the benefit of the Australian public.

9. Authority

.au Domain Administration Limited, (auDA): http://www.auda.org.au, the industry self-regulatory body responsible for the administration of the .au country code top level domain in the Internet, recognises:

the Australian Information and Communications Technology in Education Committee (AICTEC), http://www.aictec.edu.au/ as the manager of .edu.au, which is a name at the second level of the .au domain name hierarchy (2LD); and
AICTEC’s authority to make policies in relation to the above Designated 2LD.

AICTEC is a cross-sectoral, national committee responsible for providing advice to the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) http://www.curriculum.edu.au/mceetya/ on the economic and effective utilization of online technologies in Australian education and training. AICTEC has established a specialist sub-committee, .edu.au Domain Administration Committee (eDAC) to fulfil its responsibilities in respect of .edu.au. Throughout this document, the term 'AICTEC’ refers to both AICTEC and eDAC.

10. Policy Objectives

AICTEC aims to:

Develop policy for .edu.au in harmony with auDA published policies and practices;
Assist the Australian education and training sector by administering .edu.au in line with the sector’s regulatory arrangements and quality assurance mechanisms; and
Enhance Australian education and training services for the benefit of the Australian people and the Internet public in general.

11. Guiding Principles

auDA has classified .edu.au as a "closed" 2LD, because:

it is used by a defined community of interest, that is, for educational bodies registered at federal or state level;
the relevant peak body in the Australian education and training sector is responsible for administering policy and providing registration services.

AICTEC is responsible for policy relating specifically to .edu.au. As the regulator for the .au domain as a whole, auDA has responsibility for policies applying across the .au domain space. auDA and AICTEC will consult with one another on issues relating to the interface between .au policy and specific .edu.au policy.

auDA acknowledges education.au limited as the .edu.au Registrar authorised by AICTEC and approved by MCEETYA.

AICTEC is committed to ethical practices for the administration of the .edu.au domain space. The .edu.au Registrar shares the commitment through the legal agreement it has with the Commonwealth (on behalf of AICTEC) for its services for the domain. The agreement is in line with principles espoused by auDA and outlined in the .edu.au Policy and Guidelines.

12. Process for developing and amending Policy

.edu.au domain space policy and subsequent changes to policy, are subject to approval by auDA, prior to implementation. .edu.au Policy will be revised and updated as required, to reflect relevant changes in auDA’s Published Policies and AICTEC’s recommendations.

It is the responsibility of AICTEC to preserve the integrity of the .edu.au domain by ensuring that the policy rules are applied correctly and enforced as necessary. AICTEC reserves the right to revoke any domain name licence that has been granted, or subsequently held, in breach of the relevant policy rules. If AICTEC becomes aware that the .edu.au Registrar has approved a domain name application through misinterpretation of the relevant policy rules, AICTEC may issue a policy clarification to assist the .edu.au Registrar in the interpretation of policy rules.

If auDA intends to adopt any policy or specification that will expressly apply to the .edu.au domain space, it will provide AICTEC with written notice of the specification or policy being considered, including reasons why the specification or policy is being considered for adoption. auDA will provide AICTEC with a period of 60 days from the date of notice to undertake the following procedures:

liaise with auDA about the proposed policy or specification; and
make submissions to auDA on changes to the proposed specification or policy.

auDA will provide a written response to all comments and submissions from AICTEC, including: details of the steps that will be taken by auDA to address any concerns raised by AICTEC; and a revised version of the specification or policy being considered for adoption, taking account of AICTEC’s comments and submissions, for endorsement by AICTEC.

Within 60 days of receipt of the revised version of the specification or policy, AICTEC will endorse the amendment and implement it in the .edu.au domain.

13. .edu.au Complaints Policy

The .edu.au Complaints Policy sets out policy on the handling of complaints made by registrants and other members of the public about the .edu.au Registrar for the .edu.au domain.

AICTEC has agreed that an internal complaints process should be developed by the Registrar, education.au limited.
If a complainant is not satisfied through the internal review, the matter is then to be referred to AICTEC.

14. Dispute Resolution Policy

The purpose of the auDA Dispute Resolution Policy (auDRP) (Policy No. 2002-22) is to provide inexpensive, speedy resolution of disputes between the registrant of a domain name and a party with allegedly competing rights in the domain name.

auDA has extended the auDRP to cover the .edu.au domain.
The existing auDA-approved Dispute Resolution Providers will deal with .edu.au disputes In the same way that they deal with open 2LD disputes.

15. .edu.au Policy documentation

The following policy documents apply to the .edu.au closed domain space:

Specific policy documentation for the .edu.au domain space:
1. Policy 1: .edu.au Policy and Governance Framework
2. Policy 2: .edu.au Eligibility Policy
3. Policy 3: .edu.au Privacy Policy
4. Policy 4: Guidelines for Applicants and Registrants on .edu.au Policy Rules
5. Policy 5: .edu.au Reserved List Policy
6. Policy 6: .edu.au Complaints Policy
7. Policy 7: .edu.au Complaints (Registrant Eligibility) Policy
8. Policy 8: .edu.au Transfers (Change of Registrant) Policy
9. Policy 9: Guidelines for the .edu.au Registrar on the Interpretation of .edu.au Policy Rules
auDA policies which apply to the .edu.audomain space:
1. Policy 2002-14: Registrant Contact Information Policy
2. Policy 2002-22: .au Dispute Resolution Policy (auDRP)
3. Policy 2002-23: Approval Process for auDRP Providers
4. Policy 2002-24: Clarification of Domain Name Licence - Prohibition on Sale of Domain Name by Registrant
5. Policy 2003-01: .au Dispute Resolution Policy (auDRP) - Clarification of Registrar Obligations
6. Policy 2003-08: WHOIS Policy
7. Policy 2004-02: Application of auDA Published Policies to the .edu.au 2LD
The .edu.au domain space is exempt from the following auDA policies as they are not appropriate for the .edu.au closed domain:
1. Policy 2002-28: Domain Renewal, Expiry and Deletion Policy
2. Policy 2003-04: .au Domain Name Suppliers’ Code of Practice
3. Policy 2003-03: Transfers (Change of Registrar of Record) Policy
4. Policy 2003-02: Registrar Accreditation Application Form
5. Policy 2002-29: Domain Name Password Policy
6. Policy 2002-17: Guidelines for Accredited Registrars on the Interpretation of Policy Rules for Open 2LDs
7. Policy 2002-16: Registrar Agreement - Meaning of Reseller
8. Policy 2002-15: Registrar Agreement - Clarification of Clause 14.1.7
9. Policy 2002-01: Registrar Accreditation Application Form: Clarification of Paragraph 5.3