Re: [ga] RE: Domain seller leaves thousands in limbo

["Richard Henderson" <richardhenderson@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Here in UK, Nominet will "force" any transfer to a new registrar if an original registrar is unresponsive or unco-operative. There's a cost involved (which I would argue should be reduced and minimized) but no registrar can block the transfer of .uk domain names to a new registrar simply by refusing or failing to co-operate. Providing the registrant's contact details are correct on the Nominet files, then the registrant can by-pass the collapsed registrar altogether.

As I say, Nominet charges a fee to do this, but the point is that it can be done. (I have done it myself three or four times because I originally registered a few domains in my earlier days with a notoriously unreliable registrar - I just got Nominet to shift them across to a better registrar.)

http://www.nominet.org.uk/MakingChangesToYourDomainName/ChangingYourRegistrationAgentisp/

Nominet: "If you wish to change your registration agent, you should first of all contact your current agent who should be able to move the domain name for you.  Most requests to move domain names are carried out by registration agents themselves, however, in a small number of cases Nominet is asked to intervene BECAUSE THE AGENT (REGISTRAR) IS EITHER UNABLE OR UNWILLING TO ASSIST. If you wish Nominet to make the change of registration agent for you, you will first need to complete our online application form and pay a fee of £15 (plus VAT) per domain name. However, if you need to change the registration agent for a group of domain names and the registrant of all the domain names in the group is the same, you will be eligible for a discounted rate of £30 (plus VAT)."

Surely that's the point. The real security should rest with the Registry and its data. And a registrant should be able to bypass a registrar (and exercise choice) at any time. So I think the UK system points in the right direction.

Registrants' security should lie in reliable Registries with clearly defined back-up systems; it should not depend on every last AAAAAdomains.com registrar - goodness knows how long some of those 90 or 100 recently accredited ICANN "shell" registrars will last!

Yrs,

Richard H
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Danny Younger 
  To: Vinton G. Cerf 
  Cc: ga@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
  Sent: Thursday, March 10, 2005 6:50 PM
  Subject: [ga] RE: Domain seller leaves thousands in limbo


  Vint,

  From their website:  "Firevision has been a member of the UK domain name authority, Nominet, for over 2 years. Firevision was one of the first UK resellers for the ICANN-accredited registrar, OpenSRS, and has been registering cheap dot.com, dot.net and dot.org domains since June 2000. Firevision began registering the new .info domain names in October 2001."
  http://www.firevision.net/Questions/Questions3.html

  With regard to escrow policy, I thought that a policy is already incorporated into the RAA (section 3.6).  The issue in my mind is whether the policy is actually being enforced.  I understand that Staff are scheduled to soon release a new version of the RAA for consideration.  Perhaps based on your communications with Staff you could advise if any changes to the data escrow portion of the Agreement are planned to be put forth in this new iteration.

  Finally, regarding registrant protection and reassurance, I'll be happy to flesh out some ideas in the next few days, but don't be surprised if a request for a registrants constituency is part of the proposal :)

  Best wishes,
  Danny



  "Vinton G. Cerf" <vinton.g.cerf@xxxxxxx> wrote:
    Danny, is Firevision a nominet reseller? Also on the receivership matter, I have been given to understand that the registrar failed to show up for a court hearing and was placed in receivership.



    However, the point here is to ask what we can collectively do to provide more safety and protection for registrants who really want the system to perform reliably and to allow them the flexibility to transfer accounts and so on. Some of this safety might come from much better tools and policies for escrow of critical data. Maybe some resilience might come from having foster homes for registrants whose registrars (or registries???) have ceased to operate. To some extent, the introduction of competitive markets increases some risks of business failures but the absence of competition has its not so good side effects and doesn't assure that failures won't happen (sorry for the double negative there). 



    If you have some ideas that would flesh out a theme of registrant protection and reassurance, I'd be interested to hear it. 



    Vint





    Vinton Cerf, SVP Technology Strategy, MCI
    22001 Loudoun County Parkway, F2-4115
    Ashburn, VA 20147
    +1 703 886 1690, +1 703 886 0047 fax
    vinton.g.cerf@xxxxxxx 


----------------------------------------------------------------------------

    From: Danny Younger [mailto:dannyyounger@xxxxxxxxx] 
    Sent: Wednesday, March 09, 2005 4:46 PM
    To: vinton.g.cerf@xxxxxxx
    Cc: ga@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
    Subject: Domain seller leaves thousands in limbo



    Article by Kieren McCarthy in the Register:

    http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/03/08/firevision_domain_customess_in_limbo/



    No doubt, we'll be seeing more and more of these stories as registrars and re-sellers fall into receivership (see the following URL for another registrar receivership story:  http://webserv5.dodora.net/litigation/ ).  I'd love to know the ICANN view on such matters...


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