scott3d ago
I’ve always trusted .com.au #domains as being from a legitimate business, so it was odd to see Hancock Prospecting failed to acquire hancock com.au. The domain is registered by someone who has parked many .com.au domains to sell as personal email addresses, which seems to be a breach of the .au rules.
https://www.afr.com/companies/media-and-marketing/gina-rinehart-frustrated-in-year-long-campaign-to-buy-hancock-com-au-20260402-p5zkug
Gina Rineheart in Hancock Prospecting domain dispute, accused of ‘reverse domain name hijacking’

The billionaire was found to have engaged in “reverse domain name hijacking” by an international tribunal after offering less than $100,000 to buy the URL.

Australian Financial Review
Show threadscott

There was a World Intellectual Property Organization (administrative tribunal) decision against Hancock, which doesn’t seem to apply the .au requirements https://www.wipo.int/amc/en/domains/decisions/pdf/2026/dau2026-0004.pdf

https://domainnamewire.com/2026/04/01/australian-mining-and-agriculture-company-tries-reverse-domain-name-hijacking/

Apr 11 at 11:28pmWeb