In a move that will be much appreciated by many who want to register domain names for actual use, Australia is set to begin retaliating against domain squatters. Domain squatters by domains only for their salability. They never have any intention of using the domain - they simply buy it and hold it until someone who needs it comes along and offers to buy it, often for exorbitant prices.

This practice has been around for as long as the World Wide Web as we know it today. Back when the web was first blossoming in use, having already snapped up a trademarked name for sale back to the company that needed it was considered something of a coup. That didn’t make it any less sleazy in practice then, and the fact that people snap up regular domain names now as well as trademarked names doesn’t make it OK now.

The Australian Domain Name Administrator (ADNA) took a major step in the fight against oily online practices by ruling that it is illegal to purchase a domain name for the express purpose of selling it. That’s a huge move, and one that will hopefully have positive repercussions around the web. Now if we could get them to restrict domain tasters as well we’d be nearly there (those are the people who use the grace period after buying a name to set up a dummy site with ads solely for making money, then take the cancellation refund as well and drop the domain).

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