April 30, 2008 -- Many people said the .com boom was reaching an end and they were correct. To an extent. What they forgot about was the big country down under that always seems to behind the times. Australian domain names are set to soar in value according to many industry experts, one of which is John Davidson.

John Davidson owns an impressive portfolio of worldwide domain names to the tune of a cool quarter of a million dollars. However, his interests have turned to Australian .com.au domains as the country is seen as the next big thing. John offers his opinions in an exclusive interview to Domain Name World.

"Australia has always been seen by the rest of the world to be somehow 'backward' in all aspects of technology. Don't get me wrong, I love Australian people, but when it comes to innovation - especially where the internet is concerned - they are lacking a few years to say the least."

"However, Australians have something on the web to be proud about. Their .com.au domain names and their potential value. To give you an idea of what I mean, firstly allow me to clarify the situation down under and why it is a gold mine ready to be discovered."

"Australia is one of the only countries in the world to have had a domain name governing body - the AUDA. This organisation is made up of CEOs and Senior Management at Australian Domain name registrars. They effectively run the Australian domain name market."

So the .com.au boom in Australia seems to be triggered by the relaxation of laws by the AUDA - John explains why this was done.

"During the past ten years, it was not possible to register a .com.au (or .net.au) unless you had a 'close and substantial connection to it'. This means you could basically only register a domain name in Australia if it reflected yourself or your business. Joe Bloggs in the street didn't have a right to register 'loans.com.au' unless he ran a business that meant he had a 'claim' to that domain name. In addition to this, there were extremely stringent measures in place to stop anyone transferring a domain name to another person. In short it was difficult to register good domain names and laborious and difficult to sell them."

"This was very draconian and thankfully the AUDA have seen the light. Announced over the past six months (and ratified only as recently as two weeks ago), the AUDA have confirmed massive changes that will shake up the domain name industry in Australia."

"In a nutshell, they have allowed domain names to be transferred for any reason whatsoever to another person or business. They are also relaxing registration methods. What this means, pure and simply, is that .com.au domain names that were previously regarded in value as only about 1% of a .com, have jumped in value and will continue to do so during 2008/2009."

"Clever people originally started their own companies as the name of the domain name they wish to register, or with a close connection. These entrepreneurs will now reap the rewards of such foresight and the value of .com.au's will definitely rise dramatically."

"Interestingly, Flowers.com.au sold for a cool $143,000 before these changes took place. It's a good time to own .com.au domain names in Australia, there is no doubt about that."

So, what type of .com.au domain names will be most valuable?

"The most valuable .com.au domain names will match the worldwide trend. Anything to do with credit cards, loans, finance will be extremely valuable. It is still possible to cash in on the rise of .com.au domain name values as there are lots of people who did indeed register 'good' domains over the years and they have allowed them to expire. There are many good ones still available."

"My prediction is simple - if you have a strong, generic .com.au domain name, the value of this will increase significantly over the course of 2008/2009. Anything related to finance, credit cards, mortgages and so on will probably be even treasured. If you have yet to register some good .com.au domain names, get cracking! Australian domains names are a potential gold mine and I do not rule out the possibility of seeing .com.au's change hands for hundreds of thousands over the next year or so."