Small business operators face a potential ambush by online competitors due to low awareness of Australia’s new shortened internet domain names, prompting Ombudsman Bruce Billson to call for urgent action.
Registry service auDA is offering .au direct domain names for individuals and businesses with a verified connection to Australia. Priority access for holders of existing .com.au domain names will end on September 21, allowing rivals to snap up the shorter registration.
Mr Billson, the Australian small business and family enterprise ombudsman, has implored small business owners to safeguard their brand and block impersonators, known as web-name campers, from registering websites similar to their own.
He has called on the non-government regulator to extend the exclusive access period for a further 12 months, to September 2023.
“If you want it, small business owners, I urge you to take a few minutes and a few dollars to register it or potentially face someone else grabbing it and using it to digitally ambush your business, to demand big dollars later to surrender it to you, or misuse it to masquerade as you or to help them engage in cybercrime,” he said.
“I’m not surprised so few people know about this as the public awareness campaign has been less than impactful, but I want to make sure small businesses avoid a horrible surprise when they find someone else is using or misusing the shortened version of their key digital asset being their domain name.”
Mr Billson said the consequences of not registering an existing business name by the deadline could be catastrophic for operators.
‘Identity of a business’
“Domain names are very much the identity of a business and critical to their success. Small businesses cannot afford to have their identity sold to someone else,” he said.
“This is like cutting a second set of keys to your front door and selling them to a rival, a stranger who tries to sell them back to you at a higher price or a criminal who uses them to rip off your customers.”
Domain names ending in .com.au require owners to have an Australian Business Number. Rules for the new .au domains require holders to demonstrate an established connection to Australia.
More than 170,000 .au direct domain names were registered by the end of the June quarter.
“The deadline needs to be significantly extended,” Mr Billson said.
“We are not unhappy about the introduction of the .au domain but these crucial internet addresses should be available to the right people first, and they should properly be notified about the change and given reasonable time to act.”
