Re: [ga] ICANN request to Registerfly - Notice of Audit and Notice to Submit Data Escrow

["Prophet Partners Inc." <Domains@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Here's an excerpt from a press release issued by ICANN:
http://www.icann.org/announcements/announcement-02mar07.htm

==================================================
In addition to this legal action, ICANN today convened a telephone
conference among those needed to implement a plan that will help cease
unintended deletions. The participants were registries holding RegisterFly
names: Afilias (.info), NeuStar (.biz), VeriSign (.com, .net), RegisterFly
backend services provider Tucows and eNom (for which RegisterFly was a
reseller) as well as representatives of RegisterFly.

The Registries involved have agreed to move any RegisterFly names in
Redemption Grace Period* status into Server-Delete-Prohibited status. This
will prevent them from being deleted from the registry and becoming
available for re-registration by others. ICANN commends and encourages this
example of cooperation to protect registrant data.
==================================================

In our opinion, although the plan to move Registerfly's expired domains to
REGISTRY-HOLD is in the right direction, it still falls short of what need
to be done. Registrants who have paid for timely renewals will still be
penalized. REGISTRY-HOLD will prevent the domains from resolving, in effect
preventing registrants from conducting any business (or other purpose)
though their domains. It is possible that the effects of extended periods of
REGISTRY-HOLD could be almost as harmful as if the domains were actually
deleted.

Q1: What took ICANN so long to recognize that something needed to be done to
protect registrants from these unintended deletions? In our opinion, ICANN's
actions over the last couple of weeks appears to be nothing more than a
little CYA.
Q2: Why is PIR noticeably absent from the above list of registries willing
to help?

Sincerely,
Ted
Prophet Partners Inc.
http://www.ProphetPartners.com
http://www.Premium-Domain-Names.com


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Prophet Partners Inc." <Domains@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <ga@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, March 03, 2007 12:52 AM
Subject: [ga] ICANN request to Registerfly - Notice of Audit and Notice to
Submit Data Escrow


> Hi Danny,
>
> ICANN has just posted additional correspondence between it and
Registerfly.
> I am not an attorney and these are only my personal opinions and
> interpretations. If you require legal advice, you should seek qualified
> legal counsel.
>
> ICANN has sent Registerfly a Notice of Audit and Notice to Submit Data
> Escrow dated February 21, 2007. The audit requests all registration data
> submitted to registries, all registration information between registrants
> and payments from / refunds to registrants. The data escrow requests a
list
> of all Registerfly domains, plus a list of name servers, registration
dates,
> expiration dates, and WHOIS data for all such domains.
> http://www.icann.org/correspondence/pritz-to-stansbury21feb07.pdf
>
> Registerfly's reply from law firm Mirzaian Schoenbrodt, LLP is dated March
> 1, 2007. The response references an unpublished ICANN letter from February
> 28, 2007. Registerfly agrees to the data escrow with conditions, but
denies
> ICANN's request for an audit.
> http://www.icann.org/correspondence/mirzaian-to-pritz-01mar07.pdf
>
> ICANN's reply from law firm Jones Day of  Second Notice of Breach and
Notice
> to File Suit is dated March 2, 2007. Registerfly is given notice by ICANN
of
> breaching the audit and data escrow provisions of their RAA. ICANN gives
> Registerfly 15 business days to comply or Registerfly's ICANN
Accreditation
> will be terminated. ICANN also gives notice of a pending lawsuit to be
filed
> with the U.S. District Court of California seeking a temporary restraining
> order, which requires Registerfly to comply with the audit and data
escrow.
> http://www.icann.org/correspondence/levee-to-mirzaian-02mar07.pdf
>
> Sincerely,
> Ted
> Prophet Partners Inc.
> http://www.ProphetPartners.com
> http://www.Premium-Domain-Names.com
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Danny Younger" <dannyyounger@xxxxxxxxx>
> To: "Roberto Gaetano" <roberto@xxxxxxxxx>; <ga@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Tuesday, February 27, 2007 8:20 AM
> Subject: [ga] Registerfly & Data Escrow
>
>
> > Roberto,
> >
> > I would like to discuss section 3.6 of the Registrar
> > Accreditation Agreement (Data Escrow) in light of the
> > documentation breaches cited in ICANN's recent Notice
> > to registerfly.
> >
> > This particular section requires that an electronic
> > copy of the registrar database be sent to ICANN on a
> > schedule.
> >
> > At issue is whether ICANN has been negligent with
> > respect to enforcing the data escrow contract language
> > to the degree that registrants have suffered owing to
> > such negligence.
> >
> > The ICANN Notice to registerfly contained this
> > example:  "the Whois information for the 220
> > Registered Names held by that party had been changed
> > to reflect Kevin Medina as the Registered Name Holder
> > instead of the customer."
> >
> > If data was routinely escrowed, then no rogue
> > registrars would be attempting arbitrary WHOIS
> > changes.
> >
> > My question to you:  Is the registrar community
> > generally in compliance with data escrow provisions,
> > or do we still have a major problem that remains
> > unaddressed by ICANN's Compliance Staff?
> >
> > Note:  The last Registrar Compliance Update (October
> > 2006) didn't even mention the word escrow.
> >
> > Best regards,
> > Danny