Findings of the study carried out for TENET by Des Duxbury during April 2001
This page contains extracts from Des Duxbury's report to TENET, concerning the arrangements in force in several countries concerning second level domains akin to ac.za that are intended for use by higher education and associated institutions. Please note that the full report is not available for distribution.
The extracts are arranged by country:
[ Australia ] [ Canada ] [ New Zealand ] [ United Kingdom ] [ United States of America ]
[ ac.za eligibility criteria page ]
The ac.au domain does not exist in Australia. The nearest equivalent is edu.au. There is no separate domain for tertiary institutions.
The current policy for edu.au was set in 1994 and simply states that applicants for edu.au domain names must be "educational institutions of national significance". In practice, this means that the registrar makes a subjective decision on a case-by-case basis. There is no distinction between non-profit and private institutions in the edu.au domain. The key issue is whether an applicant can demonstrate that it is an "educational institution of national significance". There is no school.au - edu.au is the only 2LD for educational bodies.
The edu.au domain was handed over to auDA (.au Domain Administration) in February 2001. They are now working with the Australian education sector to develop a new policy for edu.au, including more detailed eligibility requirements to remove the element of registrar subjectivity. This is taking place in the context of a review of all .au domain name policies. (See http://www.auda.org.au/panel/name for more information.)
Below is an extract from a report issued on 12 April 2001.
In the .au domain space, closed 2LDs are those with defined communities of interest. Applicants must demonstrate that they belong to a well-defined class or sector in order to qualify for a domain name in a closed 2LD.
Due to the differing scope and purpose of the closed 2LDs, it is not possible to apply one common set of eligibility criteria. Therefore, it is proposed that the eligibility criteria in the closed 2LDs will continue to be determined by the relevant authority for the 2LD, subject to ratification by auDA.
The following table indicates the different closed 2LDs and their respective eligibility criteria.
| 2LD | PURPOSE | ELIGIBILITY |
| csiro.au | For exclusive use by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation. | Eligibility to licence a domain name is demonstrated if the applicant is an employee of CSIRO. |
| edu.au | For education-related bodies. | Eligibility to licence a domain name is demonstrated by sufficient evidence, as determined by the registrar, that the requesting body is education-related. |
| gov.au | For exclusive use by Australian governments. | Eligibility to licence a domain name is demonstrated by reference to an Act of Parliament or government regulation. |
auDA was established in 1999 by the Australian Internet community, with the close guidance and support of the Australian Government. auDA's primary purpose was to take over the management of the .au domain from the current delegate, Robert Elz, who had been managing the .au domain on a purely voluntary basis for the past 10 or so years. The Australian Government set certain terms and conditions on auDA (e.g. it must be non-profit, run public policy development processes, etc), and has also introduced legislation to ensure that if auDA fails, the Government has reserve powers to step in and take over.
For more information, see http://www.aunic.net/policies.html
[ Top of the page ] [ ac.za eligibility criteria page ]
There is no separate domain for tertiary institutions. If any institution wishes to register a domain, it may do so at the second level. For example, the University of Ottawa has UOttawa.ca. There are no educational second level tags in Canada. Currently, edu.ca is not registered, and due to their blocking policy (section 3 of the registration rules), will not become available to be registered.
CIRA was formed with the sole intention of taking over the .ca domain registry from the University of British Columbia, who had been maintaining the database for 12 years. The government of Canada, UBC and prominent members of the Canadian Internet Community were all involved in CIRA's inception.
See http://www.cira.ca/en/home.html
The ac.nz domain does exist and allocation of names within this domain is controlled by Domainz. In .nz the 2LD of .ac is not moderated. The rationale for this was that the government of the day had removed restrictions on whom could act as an Education Provider. One result is that there are a lot of legitimate Private Training Establishments approved by the government (they even have an official acronym of PTE!). Dr Frank March, a founder of the Society (ISOCNZ), writes that "most .nz SLDs are unmoderated; exceptions being .mil, .govt, .cri and .iwi. All others are open to anyone who cares to ask for a DN. However, the guidelines are generally adhered to as most people registering a name want their name to be fairly intuitively recognisable. Thus, although we do have sex.headmistress.school.nz (which is certainly odd, if not mildly offensive), most .school registrations are simply schools. The reason for the lack of moderation there is that we see no reason to exclude things like nelsonschoolofmusic.school.nz (I don't think this exists!) even though they are not a primary or secondary school, nor are they funded by the state.
"The same applies to .ac.nz, originally intended to cover all educational institutions but for the past six years or so intended only for tertiary educational institutions. Adherence is voluntary and this has allowed groups such as unions (teacher and student) and various other organisations not strictly meeting the criteria to use this space. It does not seem to cause any problems.
"Overall we have adopted a policy of minimal moderation as far as possible because we want registrations to proceed smoothly and with minimal intervention. We believe that it is generally counter productive to use the DN space to assert some sort consumer warranty or quality assurance over organisations registered to use the Internet. .govt.nz is an obvious and necessary exception."
ISOCNZ has, however, established a set of guiding principles describing second level domain names. Central to these principles, is the notion of "communities of interest":
ISOCNZ may grant permission for moderation of membership of a community of interest to be managed by that community of interest, in some circumstances. The following policies apply to second level domains within the total .nz domain space managed by ISOCNZ and cover:
There are currently 10 second level domains under .nz. The description of the communities of interest that each represents is as follows:
| Second level domain | Community of Interest |
| .ac | Tertiary educational institutions and related organisations |
| .co | Organisations pursuing commercial aims and purposes |
| .cri | Crown Research Institutes |
| .gen | Individuals and other organisations not covered elsewhere |
| .govt | National, regional and local government organisations operating with statutory powers |
| .iwi | A traditional Maori tribe, mandated by the local Iwi Authority |
| .mil | Military organisations of the NZ Government |
| .net | Organisations and service providers directly related to the NZ Internet |
| org | .Not-for-profit organisations |
| .school | Primary, secondary and pre-schools and related organisations |
Choosing the most appropriate second level domain is an important part of the name registration process. Prospective name holders sometimes overlook its importance.
Prospective Name Holders are strongly encouraged to select the second level domain that matches the most appropriate community of interest. Applicants choosing second level domains that might be viewed as inappropriate by the general Internet community, do so at their own risk:
1. for use of second level domains moderated by another organisation, permission must be sought to ensure that the applicant meets any additional criteria required
2. for those second level domains managed by ISOCNZ, the final choice of appropriate second level domain rests with the applicant
Prospective Name Holders should talk with their Registrar/Agent prior to application, to establish an appropriate second level domain.
Domainz will be pleased to handle enquiries on any aspect of choice of the appropriate second level. In some cases, it may initiate contact with an applicant to clarify their requirements.
The following are proposed as the current set of guiding principles describing second level domain names. Proposals for new level domains will be expected to justify the new domain with respect to these principles.
The registration of a third level domain name in the.nz Register is a listing service, delivered in accordance with published policies. All published policies and Terms of Service can be found using the ISOCNZ and Domainz web sites
Identifiable individuals over 18 years or properly constituted organisations are allowed to list third level domain names in the .nz Register. These names must be unique within the appropriate selected second level domain.
Before applying, prospective Name Holders and their agents are advised that registration involves the collection of personal information to provide public name listing services. Information collected will be published on the Domainz web site, and accessible by all users of the Internet.
Applicants may be asked to provide proof of their identity, or details of their existence as a properly constituted organisation, and evidence of their ability to meet the conditions for holding a domain name.
Upon application for registration of a new name, Name Holders agree to be bound by all published policies and terms of service. Where the Name Holder makes use of a Registrar/Agent, the Registrar/Agent agrees that it has made its client aware of all policies, and that the client agrees to be bound by those policies.
The listing of names within any domain in the .nz domain space is carried out on a "first come, first served" basis.
If there is conflict between an applicant for a new listing and the holder of an existing name, it is for those parties to resolve the conflict. Any resulting change in registration details of the existing name must be mutually agreed between the parties.
Neither ISOCNZ nor Domainz has any role in deciding whether an applicant has a legitimate right to the name. The applicant, in lodging the request for the name, warrants that it is entitled to register the name as requested.
Applicants who misrepresent their entitlement to register or use a name are warned that this may result in action from others who claim rights to the name. If ISOCNZ, Domainz, or any of their agents, officers or employees incur costs through involvement in disputes over names, any applicant for, or holder of, a name which is subject to a dispute will be liable for those costs.
When Domainz agrees to list and delegate a third level domain name, it does not grant a property right as such. Holding a domain name is more akin to a "licence" to connect to the Internet using the unique delegated name. By applying for registration, a Name Holder/Applicant agrees to the published policies of ISOCNZ and Domainz including the Terms of Service.
A listing may be cancelled at any stage where the Name Holder does not comply with these requirements or fails to meet any fees or other liabilities in connection with the registration or use of the domain name.
Domainz is a wholly owned subsidiary company of ISOCNZ. The company was set up shortly after the Society became the delegated manager for .nz as it was felt that:
The company operates strictly under policy set by the Society. for more information see http://www.isocnz.org.nz/dns/dns00policy.html and http://www.domainz.net.nz/default.asp
[ Top of the page ] [ ac.za eligibility criteria page ]
The ac.uk domain does exist and allocation of names within the domain is controlled by UKERNA (see contact details below). A comprehensive policy exists and has been valid since 1 December 1998. The policy is as follows:
An institution or organisation may register one or more names in the ac.uk domain provided that it satisfies at least one of the following criteria:
Where necessary, the assessment that the "core activities" or "primary purpose" fits one or more of the catagories above will be determined from the institution's or organisation's Articles of Association or equivalent document.
Note: there is a domain sch.uk which may be used by teaching establishments that are not eligible to use ac.uk as a result of the criteria above.
An organisation may take out as many names within the ac.uk domain as it wishes, subject to the following constraints which will apply to each name requested.
Subject to these constraints, names will be approved on a "first come, first served" basis.
Should these rules be reviewed at a later date, existing registrations will remain valid even if they would otherwise fall outside the revised rules.
If a name is allocated as a result of misrepresentation on the part of the requester or its principal, UKERNA reserves the right to withdraw tha allocated name. In such a circumstance there will be no compensation for costs (direct or indirect) incurred by the organisation as a result of the need to rename.
(This document is found at http://www.ja.net/documents/naming/ac.uk-naming-rules.html )
In 1994 the JNT Association took over the responsibility for the management of the Higher Education networking programme. The company trades as UKERNA. UKERNA manages the operation and development of the JANET networks under a Service Level Agreement from the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) of the UK Higher and Further Education Funding Councils. For more information see http://www.ukerna.ac.uk.
[ Top of the page ] [ ac.za eligibility criteria page ]
The ac.us domain does not exist in the United States. The nearest equivalent is the edu domain but this is a generic first level domain. Since only four year colleges and universities may hold names within the .EDU domain, the .cc and .tec second level domains have been created for use by community colleges and technical schools.
Community colleges and junior colleges are generally two year colleges. The courses offered at community and junior colleges are usually the equivalent of the first two years of a 4 year college. This branch was established for all statewide community colleges.
[ Top of the page ] [ ac.za eligibility criteria page ]