Domainz staff may buy the .nz domain name registrar

By ADAM GIFFORD

Staff and management of Domainz want to buy the .nz internet domain name registrar, which is being sold by InternetNZ as part of the shift to a shared registry system.

Domainz used to be the monopoly registrar for all internet names ending in .nz, as well as running the registry.

But after heated debate which split the society, InternetNZ adopted a shared registry model where multiple registrars can access and change the registry database.

Companies that previously acted as agents for Domainz became registrars in their own right, taking their customers with them.

This has left Domainz with between 30,000 and 40,000 unallocated names. The society's domain name commissioner, Debbie Monaghan, will contact the nameholders over the next six months to determine whether they want to stay with Domainz or move to another registrar.

If they do not respond, Domainz will become their registrar by default. To encourage people to make a choice, Monaghan is offering an overseas holiday as a prize of those who participate.

InternetNZ executive director Peter Macaulay said Domainz had a contract to act as the "stabilising registrar" until September 30.

"In a competitive registration environment, it is not appropriate for us to be a supplier of registration services and do the control and ownership of the registry as well."

He said the InternetNZ council intended to appoint someone from a large audit or consulting firm to oversee the sale process.

"We have had significant expressions of interest both internationally and domestically to buy Domainz," Macaulay said.

Domainz chief executive Derek Locke said he, chairman Bob Gray, board member Roger De Salis and other staff had said they might want to buy the company.

Locke and Gray resigned from the InternetNZ taskforce that has been managing the sale process, and board member James Scott has joined the taskforce to represent Domainz.

Last year, Domainz made a $1 million profit on revenue of $4.2 million. Its sale value is likely to depend on the number of names it can retain, and what the buyers think they can make by selling other services to that customer base.

Other registrars say Domainz is likely to keep at least half the unallocated names by default, and could pick up a percentage of the others by choice.

Monaghan said she would release progress reports on how many people were choosing Domainz as their registrar or moving elsewhere.

Freeparking.co.nz managing director Richard Shearer applauded the Domainz management team for resigning from positions where there could be a conflict of interest.

Freeparking "will certainly look seriously" at buying the company.

Shearer said that while some United States registrars sold for as high as five times revenue during the dotcom boom, prices had come down.

Domainz

Office of the Domain Name Commissioner

Free Parking

2Day Domain Names