INA Pricing Structure

Internet Names Australia, ACN 073 716 793

Version: 3.0
Date: 26 June, 1997
Author: Doug Osborn

Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Executive Summary
  3. History
  4. Parties
  5. Services
  6. Service Levels
  7. Invoicing
  8. Pricing
  9. Service Guarantees
  10. Additional Services
  11. Definition of Terms

1. Introduction

This document is Internet Names Australia's ("INA") current pricing policy for com.au domain name services, it replaces all previous versions of the pricing policy.

In response to suggestions from our customers, we have overhauled our earlier pricing policy and have made several changes which should benefit both our wholesale and end customers. The sole change in fees has been to replace the two separate transactions of 'registration' and 'delegation' (formerly costing $175 ($100 + $75) at the standard rate) with a single licence and maintenance fee ($125 at the standard rate - saving $50).

2. Executive Summary

Applicants for com.au domain names will be invoiced for each successful domain name application, and pre-payment is no longer required to reserve a domain name. However, invoices must be paid in a timely fashion or else the relevant domain names will be removed from both the AUNIC registry and the com.au zone file.

The pricing structure for com.au domain names is now based on a simple licence and maintenance fee, rather than transaction-based fees. That is, once a domain name has been fully registered there are no additional fees for the initial and subsequent delegations during the licence period. The initial licence period is two years.

There are three service levels (turnaround times). INA guarantees to process applications within their requested service level, and will forfeit the bulk of the scheduled fee where the service level is not met.

3. History

Robert Elz, the administrator of the Internet .au domain, has delegated the responsibility for administering the com.au domain name space to INA as a non-exclusive licence for a period of five years commencing 8 Oct 1996. INA is committed to providing a low-cost, performance-assured domain name administration service for level 3 com.au domain names (such as yourbusiness.com.au).

4. Parties

INA administers the com.au domain name space, providing services to users (or their agents) and manages the com.au zone file and the primary com.au name server.

Applicants who make domain name requests, can be either end-users or agents of the end-users (such as ISPs). Agents who register a significant number of com.au domain names can establish an account with INA, and have transactions charged to that account. Applicants without an account will be invoiced individually for each domain name approved.

Because of the lower administrative costs to process applications from account holders (also known as "Participating ISPs" or "PISPs"), INA charges them a lower fee than for non-account applicants.

AUNIC is the Australian Network Information Centre (www.aunic.net) which is managed by Telstra Internet. AUNIC manages the registry which contains user and domain name information from applications. INA only processes applications that have been successfully lodged with AUNIC, and which AUNIC has sent to INA.

5. Services

INA provides the following services:

  1. processing domain name applications (new registration requests, new delegation and change delegation requests).

    For each registration application, INA checks the application against the criteria for approval as specified in the com.au Domain Name Allocation Policy. Only registration applications which pass all of the criteria are accepted. The com.au Domain Name Allocation Policy is designed to ensure that domain names in the com.au domain name space are from legitimate Australian commercial entities and are not monopolising "common space" such as whole industries or Australian geographic regions.

  2. (when an application is approved) registration of a domain name for a two year licence, and all delegations for the domain name during the licence period
  3. renewal of an existing domain name licence
  4. testing of domain name delegations stored within the com.au zone file for consistency with actual implementations (to ensure reliability of the address)
  5. other administrative services for the com.au domain name space as necessary, including a help desk facility

6. Service Levels

For new registration requests, INA provides three levels of service:

  • top application is processed (accepted or rejected) within 24 hours (excluding non-working days) of INA receiving the request

    This option is only available to account holders.

  • premium application is processed (accepted or rejected) within three working days of INA receiving the request
  • standard application is processed (accepted or rejected) within ten working days of INA receiving the request

INA reserves the right to not process applications if the applicant has obviously ignored the domain name rules covered in the com.au Domain Name Allocation Policy.

7. Invoicing

For account-holders, INA will post a monthly invoice listing all domain names approved in the previous month. The amount owing is payable within fourteen (14) days of receiving the invoice. If the account is in credit, the invoice serves as a statement of transactions.

For non-account holders, INA will send an e-mail invoice upon the approval of the domain name application. This invoice is payable within twenty-one (21) days of the domain name application approval.

NB: Domain names are only provisionally reserved until payment is made in full to INA. INA will exercise its right to delete domain names from both the zone file and the AUNIC registry for lack of timely payment for any invoiced service.

8. Pricing

The two-year licence and maintenance charges for successful domain name applications are outlined in the table below.

Account Type Standard Premium Top
Non-account Holder $125 $225 n.a.
Account Holder $100 $200 $300

9. Service Guarantees

INA guarantees to process applications within their specified service levels. INA cannot guarantee that any application for a domain name will result in the requested domain name being obtained. Applications will be rejected if the application fails to meet the criteria specified in the com.au Domain Name Allocation Policy.

If INA fails to process an application within its service level, the following processes apply:

  • for a top level application only 25% is of the scheduled fee is charged, and the application then becomes subject to the premium service level
  • for a premium level application only 40% of the scheduled fee is charged, and the application then becomes subject to the standard service level
  • for a standard level application, the entire scheduled fee is waived and the domain name is processed and (if accepted) maintained for the initial licence period at the expense of Melbourne IT

The service guarantee only applies where applicants have provided complete and correct details in the application. The service guarantee does not apply in the situation where INA must seek additional information in order to process the application.

10. Additional Services

For users without Web access, INA provides a faxed application process. The additional cost for this service (for INA to send a specific application form, perform the data entry, and fax back the results of the application) is $50.

For users wishing to renew an old domain name licence, the fee is $125 for two years and $75 for one year. This fee covers all change delegations during the period of the licence, and the costs of maintaining the zone file and testing com.au domain names.

11. Definition of Terms

application: any request to INA to register, register and delegate, or delegate a domain name.
applicant: any person who submits an application, whether or not they are from the organisation for which the domain name is being applied. An applicant can be either a user (from the organisation) or an agent (applying on behalf of an organisation). If a registration application is approved, the domain name licence is held by the end-user organisation, not the applicant.
com.au: the domain name space which INA administers.
delegation: hosting the domain name on a server. Domain name delegation information is stored in the zone file in the primary name server, managed by INA
domain name: the qualified name of a domain within the Domain Name System (DNS) hierarchy
INA: Melbourne Information Technologies Australia Pty Ltd, ACN 073 716 793
registration: obtaining a licence to use a domain name. Domain name registration information is stored in the AUNIC registry.
registration application: an application to register a domain name, submitted on a INA approved form.
reservation: preliminary registration of a domain name, confirmed when payment is received by INA.
working day: any day except weekends and public holidays within metropolitan Victoria, and starting at 9am and finishing at 5pm. Applications which arrive after 5pm but before 12am are treated as arriving at 5pm, and applications which arrive after 12am but before 9am are treated as arriving at 9am.

 

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