Hello Ron,

> What 
> happens where the
> admin and tech contact that have been cited are actually the 
> reseller's?
> The registrant is out of the loop entirely in such cases, and 
> never gets to
> see information originated by the registrar.
> 

Yes - this is an ongoing problem.  You raise a good point.

Section 3.1 of the current com.au allocation policy
http://www.melbourneit.com.au/policies/comaupolicy.php3
states:
3.1 Complete and Correct Details
Complete and correct details must be provided with each and every
application. Agents (for example, Internet Service Providers) who apply for
domain names on behalf of their clients must not place themselves as the
administrative contact.

However this has been a bit difficult and time consuming to enforce.
Firstly some registrants do not have email addresses, and hence the reseller
has often substituted their email address.  Secondly some resellers appear
to have changed the contact email address to their own following a transfer
operation.

In the new registry there will be a "registrant" contact object, which will
still require the registrant email address, or fax if the registrant doesn't
have email.
It will also be possible optionally to create an "admin" contact object,
which could contain details of the agent (or reseller).

In any case, there needs to be a procedure where a third party can complain
about the contact details associated with a domain object.  e.g if someone
states their name and contact details as Mickey Mouse etc.  In such cases
the registrant (and/or reseller) could be contacted and if the details are
not corrected, the domain name could be made in-active and removed from the
zonefile until the details are corrected.

We should probably include some information on the use of contact details in
the code of conduct.

Regards,
Bruce Tonkin