The Internet Service Providers’ Association of South Africa (Ispa) has warned that proposed new domain regulations could severely damage the .ZA brand.
The .ZA Domain Name Authority (Zadna) has suggested sweeping changes to how registrars must handle domains registered under South Africa’s country code top-level domain.
Currently, new public domain registrations under .ZA are limited to four second-level domains — .co.za, .net.za, .org.za, and .web.za.
.Co.za is South Africa’s largest second-level domain space by a significant margin, with over 1.3 million domains registered.
ZADNA’s draft regulations contain the following proposals:
•Registrars (or hosting providers) must collect identity documents of registrants
•Registrars must provide ZADNA with access to their environments upon request for audits
•Registrars must pay ZADNA a licence fee, which is yet to be determined
Domain registrars in South Africa are concerned that these changes will significantly increase the cost of .ZA domains, making them must less attractive than competitors like .COM.
It will also make it much harder for people to register .ZA domains, as they now have to supply identity documents to do so.
No other major global domain requires this.
“Burdensome restrictions on domain name registrars and registrants [will] lead to brand owners abandoning the .ZA Internet country code in favour of one of the multitude of generic domains (such as .COM or .BUSINESS) that are easier to register,” warned Ispa domain name working group chair William Stucke.
“Zadna’s draft regulations and procedures as they stand threaten to undo 34 years of local and international goodwill towards domains ending in .ZA.”
Stucke said the regulations are heavy-handed and cumbersome, and disincentivise .ZA adoption.
“Ispa enjoys an active and constructive relationship with Zadna, which it greatly values,” the organisation said.
“But as a considerable number of its members provide registry and registrar services, Ispa is obliged to communicate the fact that Zadna’s draft regulations are entirely out of step with current domain name international best practises and markets.”
Ispa said the .ZA namespace has been so well-managed by Zadna and the ZA Central Registry that from only 400 registered names some three decades ago, co.za, web.za, org.za and net.za domains now number 1.362 million.
“A positive growth trajectory will be maintained as long as the significant .ZA goodwill that has been earned over the years is not destroyed by top-down approaches to domain administration that only serve to sweep aside past progress as domain owners and others shift to more stable platforms that don’t needlessly change what works,” said Stucke.
“ISPA’s firm view is that the draft regulations as they are proposed need serious reworking based on a comprehensive understanding of the domain name ecosystem if they are to contribute to the continuing success of the .ZA namespace.”
Stucke said Ispa sincerely hopes Zadna will properly consider the many submissions that industry players have been prepared in response to the draft.
Ispa said Zadna has received over 130 submissions responding to the draft regulations and procedures, including its own.
Radarr Africa