The auDA board considered the outcomes of public consultation at its meeting on 9 August 2004.

The board agreed that commercial geographic names are useful and desirable for Australian businesses. It was noted that the restriction was introduced by the previous com.au and net.au administrators and had been interpreted and applied in different and inconsistent ways over the past 7 years. It was further noted that, to auDA's knowledge, geographic names are not restricted in any other comparable domain space.

The board decided, in principle, to lift the restriction on geographic names in com.au and net.au. The board noted that concerns about the possible negative impact on community geographic names could be addressed as part of the implementation plan.

The board has requested auDA staff to prepare an implementation plan, including the timing and method of releasing the commercial geographic names.

It is anticipated that commercial geographic names will be released in the second quarter of 2005 at the earliest.

PLEASE NOTE: auDA is NOT accepting applications, pre-registrations or expressions of interest for commercial geographic names. People who are interested in registering a commercial geographic name should join the auDA Announcements List to receive further information as it becomes available. Please refer to http://www.auda.org.au/about/announcements/