---
id: "01eae7c1-7a69-4564-a289-60b08de30490"
kind: "link"
title: "auDA drops plan to strip existing .com.au and .net.au holders, but only for new registrants"
language: "en"
section: "cctld"
date: "2026-10-21T14:02:54Z"
updated: "2026-10-22T15:15:47Z"
canonical: "https://tldlog.com/l/auda-drops-plan-strip-existing-com-au-net-au-holders-only/"
origin: "master"
translations:
  es: "https://tldlog.com/es/l/auda-renuncia-retirar-nombres-com-au-net-au-existentes-solo/"
  de: "https://tldlog.com/de/l/auda-nimmt-plan-bestehende-com-au-net-au-inhaber-zurueck/"
  fr: "https://tldlog.com/fr/l/auda-renonce-retirer-com-au-net-au-existants-seulement/"
  it: "https://tldlog.com/it/l/auda-rinuncia-piano-togliere-com-au-net-au-titolari/"
  pt-BR: "https://tldlog.com/pt/l/auda-desiste-plano-que-tiraria-nomes-titulares-atuais-com-au/"
  ru: "https://tldlog.com/ru/l/auda-otkazalas-plana-lishit-deystvuyushchikh-vladeltsev-com/"
  zh-Hans: "https://tldlog.com/zh/l/auda-fangqi-xianyou-zhuce/"
source:
  name: "dnjournal.com"
  url: "https://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2026/posts/1021.htm"
  language: "en"
  date: "2026-10-21T13:25:39Z"
---

# auDA drops plan to strip existing .com.au and .net.au holders, but only for new registrants

## in plain words

The group that runs Australia’s .au internet addresses changed a rule it had just made. People who already own .com.au and .net.au names can keep them. People who sign up for these names later must have a matching trademark or company name.

auDA, the administrator of the .au top-level domain and its second-level versions such as .com.au, .net.au and .org.au, has backed away from a plan that could have cost holders of more than two million registrations their names. According to a report in Smart Money magazine, auDA will exempt existing registrants from the rule, while anyone who registers a new .com.au or .net.au name will have to meet the new requirement.

The earlier rule said registrants of .com.au and .net.au names would need a trademark or company name matching the domain they held in order to keep it. The source notes that the cost of obtaining and maintaining a new business registration or trademark runs into four figures, so many holders would have lost names they bought in good faith years ago. The plan drew strong criticism, which the source links to the reversal.

The source says the details of how the change affects buyers of existing .au domains on the aftermarket are not yet clear. It raises the question of whether those buyers would keep the exemption or be treated as new registrants. If they were treated as new registrants, the source says, existing holders would find it much harder to sell names they have held for years.

The report is described as breaking news, and further information and reaction are expected.

Source: [dnjournal.com](https://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2026/posts/1021.htm)

## also covered by

- [Domain Name Wire](https://domainnamewire.com/2026/10/21/auda-plans-to-grandfather-existing-com-au-and-net-au-registrants/) (in English)
- [webhosting.today](https://webhosting.today/2026/10/22/auda-proposes-exempting-nearly-3-5-million-existing-com-au-and-net-au-domains-from-new-allocation-rules/) (in English)