] >> It discourages end customers from buying directly from NOMINET by a
] >> charging non-members twice the amount it charges members.
] 
] >Why is the rationale for allowing non members to register directly
] >at all?  Why not have nominet act purely as a clearing house for
] >its members?
] 
] Perhaps someone could explain to me why there is a need for any intermediary
] between the User and the entity that maintains the shared registry?  Surely
] the most efficient and simplest method of operation is that the process of
] applying for a domain name is a simple e-form filled in by the user which
] interacts directly with the shared registry software.  There's no logical
] need for intermediate Registrars - they're just an added level of
] complexity.

Somebody needs to help users fill in the forms, explain what the DNS is,
answer questions about how the process works and the policies involved.
As far as I can see, this `help desk' and maybe legal costs are the major
costs to be borne for a registrar of a domain like com.au.

It would be nice to get a rough idea of "where the money goes" in a real
registrar or registry, rather than just guessing, but it is probably hard
to get such information.  I wonder if Nominet members get something like
that information.  Of course, Nominet might be a bit unusual as far as
legal expenses, in that it had to defend a case where the same name was
allocated to two different companies (pitman.co.uk).
__________________________________________________________________________
 David Keegel <djk&#167;cyber.com.au>  URL: http://www.cyber.com.au/users/djk/
Cybersource P/L: Unix Systems Administration and TCP/IP network management