| The Organisation |
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| DomainSafe is a non-profit organisation that
offers a free, long-term management solution for "unwanted"
domain names previously utilised to host websites associated
with academic and professional events such as: |
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conferences |
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conventions |
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exhibitions |
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summits |
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congresses |
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symposiums |
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workshops |
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seminars |
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| The History |
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| DomainSafe was established in September 2006
by Thomas Heaton - a university researcher, who had the unfortunate
experience of allowing the domain name of an academic conference
event to expire. |
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| The domain name in question had been registered
to promote a medical conference which had long since been concluded
and the associated website was no longer required for the ongoing
promotion of the event. The domain name was consequently not
renewed and was allowed to expire. |
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| Following expiry, the domain name was immediately
acquired by another organisation who set up a website to advertise
a range of pharmacy-related products. A number of complaints
were received from visitors who had followed existing hyperlinks
from other websites to the "conference website" -
only to find themselves bombarded with pop-up advertising for
a range of pharmaceutical products. |
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| Since the domain name had been allowed to
expire, there was no legal recourse to allow it to be recovered
from the new owner. |
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| Following this experience, DomainSafe was
established to offer a free long-term management solution for
"unwanted" domain names associated with academic and
professional events. |
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| Since its inception, DomainSafe has successfully
safeguarded the unwanted domain names of over 200 events worldwide
on behalf of a wide range of academic and professional organisations. |
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| DomainSafe is operated by three
volunteer personnel and is supported by a number of organisations
who provide a range of free domain name registration, webhosting
and virtual office services. |
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| The Problem |
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| The rapid growth of the internet as a global
advertising medium has ensured that many organisers of academic
and professional events now acquire a domain name and establish
a website to promote their event to a worldwide audience. |
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| However, once the specific event has been
concluded, the domain name and associated website are generally
no longer required for promotional purposes and the domain name
is often allowed to expire by the event organiser. |
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| Although the event may have been concluded,
hundreds or sometimes thousands of hyperlinks to the event's
domain name will often remain on other websites for years to
come and visitors will continue trying to access the website
long after the domain name has been allowed to expire by the
original event organiser. |
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| There are a number of organisations who have
recognised the potential advertising value of this online traffic
to expired domain names. These organisations specialise in acquiring
thousands of expired domain names with existing traffic and
then use them as online advertising platforms for a range of
products - often of a dubious nature. |
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| Although the event organiser
will undoubtedly have no relationship with the new website,
its owner or its products, the existing hyperlinks will still
retain the association between the domain name and the original
event. This scenario can sometimes result in significant damage
to the image and reputation of the event organiser, particularly
in instances where the new website is used to promote adult
products or is used as a launching pad for intrusive attacks
on the computer of the visitor trying to access the website. |
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| The Solution |
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| DomainSafe offers a free, long-term domain
name management service designed to safeguard the image and
reputation of event organisers by ensuring that unwanted domain
names are kept out of the hands of undesirable webmasters. |
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| As part of this service DomainSafe
will: |
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take over ownership of
the domain name |
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renew the domain
name on an annual basis for a period of up to ten years
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provide web
hosting services for the domain name for a period of up
to ten years |
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create a new "landing
page" for the domain name |
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(see www.aftc2005.org
and www.ioc2005.org
as examples) |
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| If you own a domain name that
was acquired for an academic or professional event and no longer
wish to continue with the ongoing renewal, please contact us
via email at the address shown below. |
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| Contact |
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| DomainSafe |
| Level 3, IBM Building |
| 1060 Hay Street |
| West Perth WA 6005 |
| Australia |
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