Thoughts on NZ regulating .co.nz domains like Australia to reduce scams?

Forums › ICT Policies and Regulation › Thoughts on NZ regulating .co.nz domains like Australia to reduce scams?

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Behodar

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#3503520 16-Jun-2026 13:14

BlakJak:

So my personal offshore VPS would be ineligible? Gee thanks.

Same sort of thing as the suggestion earlier about requiring an NZBN. I don't want to have to set all that up for my personal website.

KiwiSurfer

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#3503521 16-Jun-2026 13:16

Locking down .nz will make no difference to scam emails. 95%+ (if not 99%+) of the scam emails I receive are not from .nz domains.

Scam emails that are specifically targeting .nz email addresses can use different methods to look like a nz domain without actually being one.

Using .nz in the display name e.g. AlphaCompany.co.nz <alphacompany@scamdomain.xx>
Using 'nz' in somewhere in the domain e.g. BetaCompany-nz.com
Using 'nz' in the user portion e.g. AlphaCompany.co.nz@scamdomain.net

And most people fall for it.

Locking down.nz won't make a difference.

We already have protocols in place for govt.nz and that still doesn't stop some very sophisticated scams from NZTA et al. Most Geekzoners can spot those quickly (not having a @nzta.govt.nz email is a big giveaway) but for most people it is case of 'this email from appleorangebanana@somerandomdomainname.insomecountryoverseas.com looks sort of like a NZTA email, so it must be from the NZTA itself.

It is also for this reason SPF et al is not a great solution -- it only enforces that the domain portion of the email is correct. If the scammer actually does own @randomname.randomcountry SPF will pass it and it still falls to the user to spot that -- most of whom won't spot it.

It's a human problem not a tech/policy one.

networkn

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#3503522 16-Jun-2026 13:24

openmedia:

I think there needs to be much stricter governance from Internet NZ regarding local domains, and a fast track to shutdown scam domains and other misuse.

Personally I'd like to see a much higher degree of control around .NZ traffic.

.NZ domains should only be hosted on an NZ Registrar
.NZ domains should terminate on an IP address and equipment hosted in New Zealand.
All traffic to a .NZ domain should be routed within NZ and at no point loop back via an overseas node.

I'd actually like to see further restrictions around hosting rules, but these 3 items would be a good start

There is NO way 2 or 3 is practical for many many many reasons.

It also wouldn't stop scammers or spammers.

freitasm

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#3503524 16-Jun-2026 13:27

networkn:

openmedia:

I think there needs to be much stricter governance from Internet NZ regarding local domains, and a fast track to shutdown scam domains and other misuse.

Personally I'd like to see a much higher degree of control around .NZ traffic.

.NZ domains should only be hosted on an NZ Registrar
.NZ domains should terminate on an IP address and equipment hosted in New Zealand.
All traffic to a .NZ domain should be routed within NZ and at no point loop back via an overseas node.

I'd actually like to see further restrictions around hosting rules, but these 3 items would be a good start

There is NO way 2 or 3 is practical for many many many reasons.

It also wouldn't stop scammers or spammers.

Spammers just need to use the thousands of VPN exits that people installed at home when they bought those malware-infested Android streamers from AliExpress and job done.

It won't solve the problem, will create confusion and make it harder for everyone.

Nope.

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openmedia

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#3503545 16-Jun-2026 15:01

The point is to make it so hard the scammers look elsewhere for easier targets.

Generally known online as OpenMedia, now working for Red Hat APAC as a Technology Evangelist and Portfolio Architect. Still playing with MythTV and digital media on the side.

networkn

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#3503548 16-Jun-2026 15:06

openmedia:

The point is to make it so hard the scammers look elsewhere for easier targets.

It wouldn't. It would just make it nigh impossible to operate for NZ businesses.

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richms

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#3503551 16-Jun-2026 15:13

openmedia:

I think there needs to be much stricter governance from Internet NZ regarding local domains, and a fast track to shutdown scam domains and other misuse.

Personally I'd like to see a much higher degree of control around .NZ traffic.

.NZ domains should only be hosted on an NZ Registrar
.NZ domains should terminate on an IP address and equipment hosted in New Zealand.
All traffic to a .NZ domain should be routed within NZ and at no point loop back via an overseas node.

I'd actually like to see further restrictions around hosting rules, but these 3 items would be a good start

That is the most absurd nonsense ideas I have ever heard to limit a domain name by and would be the end of the .nz space for anything usable at all.

Richard rich.ms

openmedia

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#3503571 16-Jun-2026 16:17

richms:

openmedia:

I think there needs to be much stricter governance from Internet NZ regarding local domains, and a fast track to shutdown scam domains and other misuse.

Personally I'd like to see a much higher degree of control around .NZ traffic.

.NZ domains should only be hosted on an NZ Registrar
.NZ domains should terminate on an IP address and equipment hosted in New Zealand.
All traffic to a .NZ domain should be routed within NZ and at no point loop back via an overseas node.

I'd actually like to see further restrictions around hosting rules, but these 3 items would be a good start

That is the most absurd nonsense ideas I have ever heard to limit a domain name by and would be the end of the .nz space for anything usable at all.

Why? I personally think [2] should be a core component of Internet NZ's mandate. Remove the risk of off-short hosting and keep internet data local where possible.

Generally known online as OpenMedia, now working for Red Hat APAC as a Technology Evangelist and Portfolio Architect. Still playing with MythTV and digital media on the side.

BlakJak

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#3503572 16-Jun-2026 16:23

Silly restriction. I understand the thinking but it just doesn't work. You'll deter people from using .nz if you make it so that people can't choose what infrastructure to use.

Especially given all the major cloud operators not yet operating domestically.

Or perhaps your content is merely 'about' NZ but not 'for' NZ eyes.

Sorry mate that's basically a non-starter.

No signature to see here, move along...

Behodar

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#3503573 16-Jun-2026 16:26

Also think about the whole "what if two countries did this?" aspect. Imagine I had a business that sold to NZ and AU, and imagine that I had to have two separate copies of the site hosted in two different countries.

turtleattacks

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#3503575 16-Jun-2026 16:29

Behodar:

Also think about the whole "what if two countries did this?" aspect. Imagine I had a business that sold to NZ and AU, and imagine that I had to have two separate copies of the site hosted in two different countries.

I tried to get a .com.au domain for my wbsite that operates in both countries and could not do so. Obviously, it's only available for operators with an ABN.

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openmedia

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#3503586 16-Jun-2026 17:06

Behodar:

Also think about the whole "what if two countries did this?" aspect. Imagine I had a business that sold to NZ and AU, and imagine that I had to have two separate copies of the site hosted in two different countries.

You raise the perfect point. If you're multinational you shouldn't be using a .nz domain. use a .com and have country specific sites within that, for example

https://www.dell.com/en-nz

If you're a NZ entity then your hosting should be inside NZ on a .nz domain.

Seriously not a single Government service should be hosted off-shore from a data security and sovereignty perspective.

Generally known online as OpenMedia, now working for Red Hat APAC as a Technology Evangelist and Portfolio Architect. Still playing with MythTV and digital media on the side.

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