Out of every disaster there are people who want to make money from
domain names, some of them by nefarious means. Although it seems there
was no intent to defraud, brisbanefloods.com.au was put up for auction
within three days of being registered in seemingly a clear breach of the
COM.AU registration policy.
The auDA policy on transfer of a domain name state that "Under the
Domain Name Eligibility and Allocation Policy Rules for Open 2LDs, a
registrant may not register a domain name for the sole purpose of
resale. To enforce this policy rule, a registrant is not permitted to
transfer their domain name licence within the first six months after
registration of the domain name."
In addition, news.com.au is reporting that the Australian government is
investigating how they can stop the sale of the domain name.
Originally the registrant, Samuel Lopez, had a notice on the site saying
it was for sale according to news.com.au, but following the report it
now redirects to a page on the news.com.au website dealing with the
disaster unfolding in Brisbane and much of the rest of the state of
Queensland.
"I'm an internet programmer by trade and I needed something to fill in the time while I waited it out," Lopez told news.com.au.
"I knew that this event was going to affect a lot of people and the
internet has become so large with communication throughout this whole
ordeal, purchasing this domain name seemed like a good idea at the
time."
But now the domain has been withdrawn from sale following media
enquiries and an online backlash. Lopez claims he did not register the
domain name to make a profit, but rather he "firstly bought it with the
intention to provide people with latest news, photos and videos."
To register your .AU domain name, check out EuroDNS here.
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