[LINK] Oldest registered .au domain?

[Adam Todd]

At 05:16 AM 8/11/2006, Ivan Trundle wrote:
>On 07/11/2006, at 10:58 PM, Ash Nallawalla wrote:
>>>From: Ivan Trundle [mailto:ivan at itrundle.com]
>>>So who came first in .com.au?
>>Not sure if you are asking for .au or .com.au.
>
>Pretty clear, I thought: .com.au. I've read ancient Link discussions
>on the history of .au and internet development thanks to Roger's fine
>work, but there seemed to be a documented gap in the history of .com.au.

Probably because the question "first registered" contains an element of 
definition.

Does registration mean
- loading into a hosts file?
- loading into a DNS .com.au zone table?
- the application for a name that was approved and recorded in a database?
- the application and payment of a fee for a name?

There may be several "levels" of defined "first registration" depending on 
your interpretation and process of the word registration.

>Looks like we have a collective gap in memory, or, more to the point,
>it relies on one person resurfacing, or on someone resurrecting old
>hard disks.

The former I'm sure someone in Melbourne can chase up easy enough.  The 
latter I have some data, but as to whether it will in fact identify "first" 
is questionable and really relies on confirmation of the former anyway!

I appear to have a MySQL database of all the old com.au data :)

>I was going to ask 'Where is the first published evidence of a
>'.com.au' address used in advertising, or used to publish the fact
>that a commercial organisation had an online presence...' but thought
>that this would be too specific.

As I said earlier, I believe that I had something to do with that and it 
was in APC magazine.  I can dig out the copy as I'm currently going through 
files and documents of that era, scanning them and putting on them on 
DVD.  Storing paper is too costly today, so sadly I must destroy the 
authentic history.

(Anyone want a stack of What's New in and other electronic, Internet and 
technology magazines?  They really are going to landfill otherwise.  As 
will a lot of peripheral cards, motherboards, monitors ...)

[Please don't suggest giving them to charity or computer recylcing groups. 
I've been trying to do that for a long time.  It no longer interests me.]