Domain Names
Domain Name Basics
Your Domain Name or web address signifies your own address on the Internet. It is a unique alphanumeric name used for identifying and locating computers on the Internet.
As no two parties may ever hold the same Domain Name at the same time, it is a truly unique identifier of you or your company. It is how your customers will remember you and find you among the millions of other Web sites on the Internet.
Transferring a domain name from another registrar.
The transfer process is very secure. The following checks have been put in place to ensure that an unauthorized transfer does not occur:
1. The request to transfer must be verified and approved by the registrar's administrator before the transfer process proceeds.
2. A confirmation email will be sent to the owner and administrative contact simultaneously to verify that the request is legitimate.
3. The relinquishing Registrar must have given their approval before the transfer is complete.
To view the policies for a Transfer from another Registrar see our website.
The Transfer from another Registrar process can take up to ten (10) days for the process to be complete.
The Registrant (who initiates the transfer) has up to five (5) days to confirm the request is legitimate; and
The relinquishing Registrar has up to five (5) days to explicitly approve or reject the transfer;
The transfer approval process is dependant on the approval of the above parties.
Domain TLD information
auDA (.au Domain Administration Limited) is the regulatory body and policy authority for the .au domain space.
The auDA Published Policy (or Policies) are the authoritative source of the policy guidlines which are summarised below.
The full (unabridged) guidlines may be viewed at auDA's website
In order to register an asn.au domain name you must fall into one of the following six categories:
1) If you are an Australian Incorporated Association
You must enter:
(i) Your Incorporated association name; and
(ii) State or Territory of registration; and
(iii) Association Number
2) If you are an Australian Political Party
You must enter:
(i) Your Party Name
3) If you are an Australian trade union or organization under Workplace Relations Act 1996
You must enter:
(i) Your Union or organization name; and
(ii) Your Organization number
4) If you are an Australian Sporting or Special Interest Club
You must enter:
(i) Your Club name; and
(ii) Your Club address; and
(iii) Your Australian Business Number, if available
(If you do not have an ABN, you must warrant to us that you are a club).
Restrictions on .asn.au Domain Names
There are certain restrictions on the .asn.au domain names you are allowed to purchase
Your domain name must
(i) Be an exact match of your association's name or,
(ii) Be an abbreviation or acronym of your association's name or,
(iii) Have a close and subtantial connection with your association's name.
Examples of Close and Substantial Connections
(i) A service that your association provides; or
(ii) A program that registrant administers; or
(iii) An vvent that registrant organises or sponsors; or
(iv) An activity that registrant facilitates, teaches or trains; or
(v) A venue that registrant operates; or
(vi) A profession that registrant's members practise
There are now more than 20 million registered dot com domain names, and over 34 million domain names in total. Experts in the industry claim that there could be more than 500 million domain names registered in the next 10 years.
The dot com (.com) and dot net (.net) domains are mostly already registered for anyone who wants a short distinct domain name. With the future demand that is predicted more global registries are inevidable. The key to choosing the correct extension is in its ability to be recognised in the future. After dot com and dot net, the next two that are emerging as the favourites for sustainability and recognition are dot ws (.ws) and dot tv (.tv) .
The dot com domain was originally intended for commercial internet sites and dot net was intended for administrative internet sites. Today these domain extensions have been registered for every purpose imaginable, used as globally generic extensions. The dot ws domain is meant to signify WebSite, therefore having a trully generic meaning. The dot tv is generally associated with media purposes.
There are abosolutely no differences in functionality or usability of a dot ws domain compared with a dot com or dot net. It is quickly emerging as the strongest alternative for a highly marketable, keyword rich domain name for those that missed the dot com and dot net opportunity. Globally recognised domain names have a market value similar to real estate in many ways and the value of dot ws domain domains are quickly growing.
In addition most of the largest organisations in the world such as Yahoo and Intel have already purchased the dot ws equivalent of their dot com and dot net domains in recognition of its future value.
The dot ws domain registry was originally designated as a country domain for Western Samoa, however due to its relevancy as “WebSite” and the fact that Western Samoa had not started using it, it was changed to an open or global domain registry. It is now one of the most recognised global domain registries after dot com and dot net.
For a recognisable domain name for individuals, small businesses and major corporations, dot ws is an excellent alternative.
Transferring a domain name. Changing Ownership.
The maximum time a Transfer of Domain Name will take is up to ten (10) days.
The registrar's Administrator has up to five (5) days to explicitly approve or deny the transfer.
If approved, the new Registrant has up to five (5) days to either accept of reject the transfer.
The transfer process is very secure. The following checks have been put in place to ensure that an unauthorized transfer does not occur:
1. The current Registrant must obtain the new Registrant's member ID before proceeding with the transfer;
2. The transfer is also protected by a secure password nominated by the current Registrant that must be confirmed by the new Registrant;
3. Both parties must confirm their intention to proceed with the transfer;
4. The registrar's Administrator can overrule and deny the transfer if there is valid reason.
To view the policies for a Transfer of Domain Name see our website.
There is no transfer fee. The Transfer of Domain Name is treated as new registration.
Firstly the new owner must become a member. They must then register the Domain Name for a minimum term of twelve (12) months and pay the relevant fee at the current rate.
There are many reasons why Domain Names are transferred. These could include:
The result of a court order
A contract between two or more parties
A purchase agreement
Dissolution of an entity
Voluntary transfer
The following transactions are considered transfers and therefore must go through a Transfer of Domain Name:
From a person to a person
From an organization to an organization
From a person to an organization
From an organization to a person
Yes. Presently only transfers of Domain Names between members are accepted. This means that both the current and new Registrant must be a member.
A Transfer of Domain Name is the only legal way to change the owner of a Domain Name. Changing Administrative, Technical and Billing contact information does not change the ownership of a domain name.
To view the policies for the Transfer of Domain Name process see our website.
Domain Name Disputes
You can choose an alternative Domain Name, or if you feel that you have legal rights to a particular domain you could initiate a Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy ('UDRP') dispute by submitting a complaint to one of the ICANN approved dispute resolution service providers listed at http://www.icann.org/udrp/approved-providers.htm, that states:
1. The Domain Name you are complaining about is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark in which you have rights; and
2. The Registrant of the Domain Name you are complaining about has no rights or legitimate interests in respect of that Domain Name; and
3. The Registrant has registered and is using the Domain Name you are complaining about in bad faith. In addition, your complaint must conform to the Rules for Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy, which are available at http://www.icann.org/udrp/udrp-rules-24oct99.htm, as well as the selected administrative-dispute-resolution service provider's supplemental rules.
For example, you believe that you have legal rights to the Domain Name 'tonismith.com' but it is has already been registered by someone. The UDRP will inform you how to pursue your claim.
The Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) was adopted by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) on October 24, 1999 and is incorporated by reference into the Service Agreement. All ICANN accredited Registrars are required to abide by the terms or the UDRP. It sets forth the terms and conditions in connection with a dispute between you and another party over the registration and the use of an Internet Domain Name registered by you.
Under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy, actual resolution of a dispute will occur, and result in continued use, deletion or transfer of a Domain Name registration.
Domain Names and Web Hosting
Web hosting is an additional service to Domain Name registration.
When you have both a domain name and a web hosting service, you will need to set your domain nameservers to point to your hosting. The domain nameservers can be setup by logging into your domain name registration portal.
Pricing and Payment Terms
Australian domain names (.com.au & .net.au) can be registered for $77 per 2 year period. While most global domain names (.com & .net) can be registered starting from $18 per year.
All renewal and transfer prices are equal to the current registration prices. Where we register and manage your domain names, a management fee applies.
To register domain names using a creit card and manage them yourself, please visit our Australian Dollar domain portal at Aussie-Domains.com.au
In order to register a Domain Name, a valid credit card is currently the means of payment accepted.
Before your Domain Name becomes active your credit details must be approved. This enhances the availability of Domain Names by preventing them from being tied up by persons not intending to pay for them.
No. Your billing contact information, including your credit card type, account number, and expiration date, will remain private and confidential.
The privacy of customers is respected. We will not make your billing information publicly available or include it in WhoIs records. To view our Privacy Policy see our website.
Domain Name Servers (DNS), IP Addresses and Domain Parking
A DNS or Domain Name Server is an integral part of the Domain Name System. It is the system of computers and databases connected to the Internet that are responsible for doing the following:
Translating your Domain Name into an IP (Internet Protocol) address. A Domain Name is a lot easier to remember than a bunch of numbers.
Specifying the mail servers responsible for email distribution for your Domain Name.
What is WhoIs
If a Domain Name is already registered, a WhoIs search will give you the details of whom it is registered to. If it is not registered no details will come up this it is an available registration.
Each registrar is responsible for creating and maintaining a WhoIs database for their customers.
All registrars are required to create and maintain a database containing all information on customer's Domain Names. This information is available to the public on a WhoIs site. Customers can query this database online by conducting a WhoIs search.
The information we are required to display in a WhoIs Result page:
The Domain Name
The IP addresses of the Primary and Secondary Server
Original Creation Date of Registration
Expiration date of Registration
Name and Postal Address of the Registrant
Name and Postal Address of Technical Contact
Name and Postal Address of Administrative Contact
The WhoIs information provides detailed information about an existing registered Domain Name in the registrar's database. It displays all relevant information pertaining to the Domain Name. If a query is entered for a domain name that does not exist in the registrar's database, the query will check for the existence of Domain Names in other Registrars databases through the InterNIC WhoIs service, and the results are displayed.
The Domain Search will simply check on the availability of registering a Domain Name. If a Domain Name is taken it will not display the Domain Name information.
Member Identification and Passwords
Each member is provided with a unique key called the Member ID.
A Member ID is generated for the Domain Name owner as well as the administrative, technical and billing contacts. Knowing the Member ID of a domain contact provides the owner a shortcut during the registration process.
The member ID for the owner is created automatically during registration for a Domain Name. After the registration process is complete the owner will receive an email with the member ID along with their registration details.
The Administrative, Technical and Billing contacts that were nominated by the owner are also emailed their member ID's. They may visit the website to change their password if they wish.
Member ID lookup will perform a lookup on all Member ID's if you enter either a last name or a company name. If a match is found, a Member ID, Registrant name and email address will be displayed.
Knowing your member ID can help you:
It provides you a shortcut during the registration process; and
If you have forgotten your password knowing your Member ID and answering your prompt question will retrieve it.
Your username is unique. All members are asked to provide a username and password.
You need a username and password for two (2) reasons:
1. To maintain the security of your account. It will ensure that no unauthorized parties can access your Domain Name information. To access Member Management and Manage Domains Functions that will enable you to effectively make amendments to your Domain Name. Eg. changing contact details etc.
2. You can only access member management and domain management once you have entered your username and password.
The username and password is a secure method of keeping your domain name details private.
In addition to a providing username and password, members are also asked to provide a prompt question and answer. This adds an extra level of security to your Domain Name information.
Only you should know the answer to your to your prompt question. In the event that you forget your password your prompt question will be asked. If you answer it correctly your password will be emailed to you and you will gain access to your Domain Name information.
For example:
Prompt Question: What is my favourite colour?
Prompt Answer: Blue.
Go to Remember Password. Your password will be emailed to you if:
You know either your Member ID or Username; and
You can answer your prompt question.
Renewing Your Domain Name Registration
When your Domain Name registration comes up for renewal, the person listed as the billing contact for that Domain Name will receive an email. That person will have 30 days to renew the Domain Name's registration. Following the expiration date, the name will be held as registered for a grace period of 30 days. After this period the domain name will be available for registration by interested parties.
Alternatively you can renew your Domain Name through Manage Domains. Go to Renew Registration, select the domain you wish to renew. At this point you must also indicate the number of years for which you wish to renew. You can renew Domain Names from 1 to 10 years at a time You are then required to enter your payment details and click the renew button.
Domain Name Registration Guidelines
The Domain Name Registration system allows you to register second-level domains under the following top-level domains:
.COM: Recommended for commercial entities. Anyone can register a .com domain.
.ORG: Originally designed for miscellaneous organizations, including non-profit groups. However today, anyone can register a .org domain.
.NET: Originally recommended for companies involved in Internet infrastructure. However today, anyone can register a .net.
The Basic Rules for creating a Domain Name:
They must be between 1 and 63 characters long not including the four characters used to identify the TLD such as. com.
They can be made up of letters or numbers. Domain Names are not case sensitive.
The dash symbol (-) is permitted but not at the beginning or end of your Domain Name. Spaces and special characters are not permitted.
There are five (5) steps to follow to register a Domain Name:
1. Search for a Domain Name. If it is available confirm intention to register.
2. Select the registration term, and provide your contact details and DNS information.
3. Review the information for correctness.
4. Agree to the Service Agreement.
5. Provide payment information and submit your request.
In order to register a Domain Name you will need to provide the following information:
1. Provide the following personal information for the Domain Name owner and Administrative, Technical and Billing contacts.
a. First Name
b. Last Name
c. Email Address
d. Postal Address
e. Tax ID Number
2. Create the following to secure your Domain Name account:
a. Username and Password
b. PromptQuestion and Answer
3. Provide your Domain Name Server (DNS) information which can be obtained from your website hosting company
4. Read and accept our service agreement.
5. Provide your credit card and billing information for payment purposes.
How much does it cost to register a Domain Name?
Two levels of pricing are offered:
1. Standard Rate per domain; and
2. Volume Discounts.
All these prices are advertised on our website.
After you have registered your Domain Name and paid for it, it is reserved immediately. From then on, it is attributed to you and is not available for purchase by anyone else for the term of the registration.
The Domain Name then has to be technically available. This will happen within 24 to 72 hours later, assuming you have provided the correct technical parameters such as valid DNS servers.
If you check your Domain Name after you have completed the registration process for a .com, .net or .org Domain Name, your WhoIs Domain Name and Contact Information is available online immediately.
If you are querying or searching for your newly registered .com, .net or .org Domain Name's availability through another Domain Name registration web site and receive a message "No match for domain 'tonismith.com'" it may simply be an indication that the registration web site you are visiting is not displaying the WhoIs information of competing accredited registrars. It does not mean that your Domain Name is still available for registration. If you were to actually attempt registering your new Domain Name through a competing registrar's site, you would receive a message stating, "tonismith.com is not available". This is an indication that the SRS (Shared Registration System) has an entry on file for the Domain Name (i.e., the Domain Name is already registered).
Under the Australian Corporations Law, every company in Australia has been issued with an Australian Company Number (ACN), which must be shown on a range of documents. The purpose of the ACN is to ensure adequate identification of companies when transacting business. Non-Australian entities can ignore this field
Australian business entities or entities carrying on a business in Australia who are registered for the goods and services tax (GST), will be assigned an ABN (Australian Business number) for taxation purposes in respect of GST charged and paid.
A Tax Identification Number is the number assigned by an individual country to business entities in respect of the particular consumption tax levied on various goods and services. It is a single identifier for the tax that is charged and the refund you may be entitled to.
For entities in European Union countries and other countries around the world this will be your VAT (Value Added Tax) Registration number. VAT is often recoverable for companies doing business in a foreign jurisdiction if they have VAT registration and if the particular company administers a tax refund scheme. The VAT is also recognized in different countries as MwST, TVA, MOMS and ITA
Domain Name Contact Details
When you register a Domain Name you are required to nominate the administrative, technical and billing contacts for your domain. These contacts can be individuals other than the owner.
Once you have nominated your domain contacts, each contact will receive an email with their member ID. They will be prompted to visit the website where they have an option to change their password.
How does a Domain Name function with the internet?
TCP and IP were developed by a Department of Defense (DOD) research project to connect a number different networks designed by different vendors into a network of networks (the "Internet"). It was initially successful because it delivered a few basic services that everyone needs (file transfer, electronic mail, remote logon) across a very large number of client and server systems. Several computers in a small department can use TCP/IP (along with other protocols) on a single LAN. The IP component provides routing from the department to the enterprise network, then to regional networks, and finally to the global Internet. On the battlefield a communications network will sustain damage, so the DOD designed TCP/IP to be robust and automatically recover from any node or phone line failure. This design allows the construction of very large networks with less central management. However, because of the automatic recovery, network problems can go undiagnosed and uncorrected for long periods of time.
As with all other communications protocol, TCP/IP is composed of layers:
Is responsible for verifying the correct delivery of data from client to server. Data can be lost in the intermediate network. TCP adds support to detect errors or lost data and to trigger retransmission until the data is correctly and completely received.
Sockets - is a name given to the package of subroutines that provide access to TCP/IP on most systems.
Routing the IP
The biggest task of the TCP/IP was how to get one's data to a destination. For example, you telling your browser to go to www.stuff.com. There is a lot more to the inner workings of the internet than just saying ok, I will head over to www.stuff.com.
www.stuff.com is just a mask for an IP address, which in this case it being 64.49.213.239. Now this number is kept in a very large database on various super computers named "domain name" servers. With this number, it can very quickly locate where to send the information.
Now you could always skip the domain name servers by typing in the address of the website, and have it go straight to it, but it's far easier to type www.stuff.com than a series of numbers.
Managing Your Domain Name Registration
Registry, Registrar and Registrant. What do these words mean?
A registrar is an ICANN accredited company or organization that is authorized to provide registration services for the top-level domains such as .com, .org and .net. Registrars have contractual agreements with their customers.
A Registrar submits all newly registered domains into the Registry.
The Registrant is the owner of a Domain Name. The owner may be an individual or an organization to whom a specific Domain Name is registered.
When a Registrant registers a Domain Name and enters a contractual agreement with the Registrar, they are the legal owner of a domain name for a specific period of time. The Registrant is bound by the terms of the service agreement.
For example, Toni Smith (Registrant) registers the name 'tonismith.com' through the Registrar who in turn writes the name to the central database (NSI Registry).
Formed in October 1998, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is a non-profit, private sector corporation with a volunteer board of directors. ICANN was formed with the chief responsibility for coordinating four key functions for the Internet: the management of the Domain Name system, the allocation of IP address space, the assignment of protocol parameters, and the management of the root server system.
For a company or organization to operate as a Registrar, they must first obtain ICANN accreditation. To view the ICANN website click here.
A registry provides direct services to registrars only, not Internet end-users. The Registry database contains only Domain Name service (DNS) information (Domain Name, name server names and name server Internet Protocol [IP] numbers) along with the name of the Registrar that registered the name and basic transaction data. It does not contain any Domain Name Registrant or contact information.
A Registrar provides direct services to Domain Name registrants. The Registrar database contains customer information in addition to the DNS information contained in the registry database. Registrars process name registrations for Internet end-users and then send the necessary DNS information to a Registry for entry into the centralized Registry database and ultimate propagation over the Internet.
Searching for a Domain Name
You can choose an alternative Domain Name, or if you feel that you have legal rights to a particular Domain Name you could follow the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) and try to regain you Domain Name.
For example, you believe that you have legal rights to the domain name 'tonismith.com' but it is has already been registered by someone. The Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy will inform you how to pursue your claim. To view thew UDRP click here.
Web Hosting
Web Hosting Pre-Sales Information
Web Hosting DNS (Domain Name Server)
Please read your welcome e-mail if you have lost your welcome email you can contact us requesting your dns details.
Currently the nameservers to set for Web Exchange hosting plans will be either:
ns51.websitewelcome.com
ns52.websitewelcome.com
OR
ns269.websitewelcome.com
ns270.websitewelcome.com
Sub Domains and Addon Domains
You cannot create an addon domain if your dns hasn't proprograted to the server already. So after you change the sites dns you are trying to add you will need to wait 24-48 hours before attempting to create your addon domain.
There are three fields cpanel asks for when creating an addon domain.
1. "New Domain Name:" You will put in the newdomain.com do not put www in the name!
2. "Username/directory/subdomain Name:" This will be the folder cpanel creates in your main accounts ftp. MAKE SURE that the name you give it doesn't already have a folder. Example... If you want to give it the username chris. You cannot have a folder in your account named chris already. If you do and still try creating the username for the addon domain to be chris you will mess a lot of things up!!!
3. "Password:" fill in any password you want here
Control Panel (cPanel)
E-mail Access and Instructions
SSL Protocol (Secure Sockets Layer)
SSL security protocol and using it on our hosting.


