I stole our CEO's .au domain because it's really that easy to lose

Priority registration for .au domains closes on October 5 — after that date anyone from the general public can buy the shortened website addresses. So with the deadline looming, I stole the .au domain of our CEO.

What’s going on with these domains?

The shortened .au domain names were first announced by .au Domain Administration Limited (auDA) back in March. The idea was to allow for “shorter, more memorable” domains that are better suited to mobile devices. They also bring Australia in line with other countries that already have shorter domain options, such as .nz and .ca.

Since then, priority access has been open for applicants with a verifiable Australian presence to register their .au domains first. For example, if you have a company it needs to be registered in Australia. According to the auDA website, more than four million .au sites have been registered so far.

A priority status system for domains is in place, and we have an explainer on how it works right here.

In August, Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Bruce Billson implored small businesses to register for the .au domain before the cutoff date to avoid impersonations, traffic stealing and domain squatting.

“The consequences of not registering your existing business name by this deadline could be catastrophic for a business if a rival or someone else took their online name,” Billson said.

“I implore all small business owners to take a few minutes to work out if they want the shortened .au domain or will be unhappy for someone else to have it.”

And he’s not wrong. The rules around registering .au domains are far more relaxed than .com.au and .net.au, which require the purchaser to be a commercial entity. It also has the potential to open the floodgates for bad actors.

Just last week, domain registrar site Web Central sent an email reminding businesses to register their .au domains. But as Finder co-founder and COO, Jeremy Cabral, point out on Twitter, it could be interpreted as encouraging domain squatting.

The email pointed out several prominent businesses and government departments that were yet to secure the .au domain. This included the likes of Samsung, the ATO and Dick Smith.

Seeing an email from a major domain registrar effectively encouraging domain squatting – please register your AU domains @SamsungAU @Tripadvisor @TheWiggles @eharmony_AU @DickSmith (cc @ruslankogan on DickSmith domain) pic.twitter.com/79pvTDOY7c

— Jeremy Cabral (@jeremycabral) September 29, 2022

I’ve since tested these .au domains and they’ve been secured.

So I stole the .au domain of our CEO instead

Priority registration for .au domains have been open for more than six months. But clearly not all Australian businesses or public figures have secure theirs yet. In fact, federal and state government departments are even fighting each other over some.

So I decided to check in on the .au registration of the CEO of Private Media, Will Hayward.

It was available. I knew what I had to do.

A cool $23.99 later and the domain was mine. I probably should have checked whether I can expense that.

I originally had the idea to risk my job for content because I worship chaos and thought it was funny. But more importantly, it’s a lesson to businesses and leaders out there to get their houses in order. The entire process took about three minutes and it was alarmingly easy to do. And from October 5 it will be even simpler when anyone can register.

In my defence, I’m not the only one engaging in a cheeky domain squat to make a point.

Joseph Skewes, co-founder of identity startup Alien Star Cloud, has also purchased the .au domains of several prominent Australians. Skewes made it clear in a press release that this was “an exercise demonstrating the importance of protecting your personal brand”.

Some of the .au domains Skewes purchased include obrecht.au (Canva cofounder Cliff Obrecht), mundine.au, (boxing world champion Anthony Mundine), and tarascio.au (billionaire property magnate Sam Tarascio.

“The domains were purchased for the purpose of the demonstration and would be provided back to the prominent Australians at cost, by request before year’s end,” Skewes said.

I’m not sure if I’m feeling that generous with our CEO’s domain. Perhaps I’ll hand it over once I pass probation.

In the meantime, if you haven’t registered for your .au domain yet, get on that before somebody else does.