Clive

You are completely misleading this list as to the details of this situation.

Here are the facts:

1. The company concerned signed up as a reseller on the 10th of June - SEVEN
DAYS BEFORE YOUR POSTING, not the three weeks you claim.
2. We contacted them on the 15th of June with a request to ammend their fax
and
practices.
3. On the 17th we suspended their reseller status.

I consider this to be a satisfactory and responsible timescale. 

Please Clive, we are all possible victims of abuse in an unregulated
environment. Don't try use one company's misfortune to your commercial
advantage - it will backfire (and has for MIT/INA in this case).

If you want to be a responsible member of this community, then use forums like
this to act cooperatively to self regulate and clean up practices within the
industry, rather than try and gain a narrow advantage.

It is in the interests of the entire Internet industry that practices like
those of the reseller in question are curtailed. Surely the best approach is
for the industry as a whole to assist in limiting the damage that this causes.
Your approach is a symptom of what is wrong with the way this industry manages
its affairs. What's the point of a childish fight between us?

There is a bigger picture here. Government is having a look to see if the
industry should be regulated. There are severe problems of accountability and
competition in domain naming in Australia. There are huge gaps for
'cowboys' to
exploit. What we need is a self-regulatory approach in which we, the member of
the Internet industry, assist each other in cleaning up our industry.

We all gain from an accountable and well self-regulated image and industry.

Larry Bloch 



At 17:26 17/06/98 +1000, you wrote: 
>
> Larry
>
> I find it� really hard� to believe that 
>
> a. you were not aware of this campaign
> b. you did not encourage this campaign
>
> The fax campaign by Australia & New Zealand Domain Name Registry started
> nearly� 3 weeks ago. Surely the increase in their sales,� arising from what
> amounts to duping the public,� would have alerted you to asking what "magic"
> method they were using to have generated such sales. 
>
> Melbourne IT� has had over 200 phone calls. The callers were angry, confused
> and outraged. The callers wanted some clarity and comfort. All have
requested
> that we take legal action on their behalf. 
>
> If you did not know about this campaign then in the interest of maintaining
> stability and confidence in the Australian Internet community I would
like to
> see you do the following 
>
> a. Ensure that NONE of your current or future resellers repeat this.
> b. Ensure that your resellers are trained to provide the FACTS to the
> consumers. Such as   
> � au.com is a Privately owned Domain name 
> � it is NOT a recognized country level domain  
> � it is not an accepted country code as is com.au  
> � Net registry is not recognized by the existing Internet community as an
> official Registrar 
> � they are buying a 3rd level domain name from a Privately owned Domain name
> in contrast to com.au which is currently administered by Melbourne IT under
> the aegis of the .au registrar hence providing legitimacy and longevity 
> � etc 
> c. Most importantly, to ensure that ALL the people that got duped into
buying
> domain names from Australia & New Zealand Domain Name Registry as a
result of
> this fax campaign get  
> � a letter of explanation and apology 
> � a FULL refund from Net Registry.
>
>
>
> I trust that this will not occur again.
>
>
> Clive Flory
> General Manager
> Internet Names Australia
>
> PS: If one took a look at Net Registries Web site one would get the sense
> that Net Registry have also been a little sloppy about the "FACTS" they
> present to consumers. So if you want to show leadership then your web
site is
> a good place to start.
>
>
>
>
>
> At 03:34 PM 6/17/98 +1000, you wrote:
> >Stephen, Chris, rick and the list
> >
> >The fax referred to in the original posting by Stephen was sent out by a
> >reseller of .au.com names, NOT NetRegistry, the .au.com Authority.
> >
> >This fax has been stopped and the resller has been informed that unless his
> >practices cease his reseller status will be withdrawn. I want to make it
> >very clear on this list that NetRegistry does not condone this approach to
> >domain name sales and will not tolerate any action on behalf of our
> >resellers that misinforms or misleads the public.
> >
> >Moreover, NetRegistry explicitly welcomes suggestions and information from
> >the Internet industry regarding any such practices and will always take
> >action to ensure that domain name buyers are well and accurately informed.
> >
> >Regards
> >
> >_____________________________________________
> >
> >Larry Bloch������������������ 
> >Chief Executive Officer������ 
> >NetRegistry Pty Limited������ 
> >email:� larry§netregistry.au.com
> >Office: +61-(0)2-9555 6299
> >Fax:��� +61-(0)2-9555 5808
> >
> ><http://www.netregistry.au.com/>http://www.netregistry.au.com
> >Domain House, PO Box 2088, Sydney, NSW 1043
> >_____________________________________________
> > 



_____________________________________________

Larry Bloch                   
Chief Executive Officer       
NetRegistry Pty Limited       
email:  larry&#167;netregistry.au.com
Office: +61-(0)2-9555 6299
Fax:    +61-(0)2-9555 5808

http://www.netregistry.au.com
Domain House, PO Box 2088, Sydney, NSW 1043
_____________________________________________