Re: [ga] ICANN's accredited registrars and trying to renew one name

["L. Gallegos" <jandl@xxxxxxxxx>]

I have yet to see a registrar contract with anything less then the
disclaimer you described.  There may be some competition in pricing
and value? added services offered, but there is no competition
otherwise.  The governing contract is the registry/registrar contract
and all the registrars just add to that their own additional
limitations of liability.  Since the only way one can register a
domain name in any given TLD is through a registrar accredited by
ICANN and approved by the registry, one has no choice, really.  In the
even that the registrar screws up, there is no recourse at any level
unless the courts were to find that these limits were unenforceable.

That's why I think the registry should have ultimate responsibility to
ensure the integrity of the registration if the registrar proves to be
incompetant or unwilling to correct its own errors.  In a case where a
registrant is not "allowed" to renew due to a technical issue or lack
of phone access, the registry should immediately correct the situation
and not create a loss for the registrant.  If they do not act, the
registry should be held liable.

Of course, it is up to the registrant to keep track of renewal dates,
so waiting until the day of or before expiry is really not much of an
excuse for claiming an emergency situation.  OTOH, there should have
been no problem in accessing the tools to renew.

Leah



On 27 Aug 2003 at 17:11, Karl Auerbach wrote:

> On Tue, 26 Aug 2003, L. Gallegos wrote:
> 
> > Personally, the issue your facing could be avoided by making registries
> > go back to the thick model and having the registry itself ultimately
> > responsible for ensuring there is no hanky panky with domain renewals. 
> 
> There's another possible course - one that is particularly American -
> one can initiate a legal action for breech of contract.
> 
> You have, of course, examined your registation agreement to see if you have
> agreed to not do that.
> 
> If your registrar has a contract under which you have agreed to limit the
> liability of the registrar, then switch registrars to one that puts no such
> limitation in their contract.
> 
> If you were to perchance find that all the registrars have essentially
> identical contract terms limititing liability to nothing more than the
> price paid, then there is an interesting case that can be made that there
> is no real competition in the marketplace.
> 
> (I just skimmed the agreement of one of the registrars I use and I saw what
> amounts to a near total disclaimer of liability, both under contract and
> tort law, and a limitation of liability to the amount of the registration
> fee - in other words, near banditry.  The dominant registrar has terms with
> similar effect in its agreement.)
> 
>   --karl--
> 
> 
> 
>