Craig Ng is right.

Once the new competitive registrar system is in place and auDA has registrar
agreements with the various new registrars, auDA will have an ability to
deal with shonky registrars and shonky resellers (through registrars).

At the moment auDA only has a contractual relationship with Melbourne IT
in the com.au space (which seems to be the main problem area), which
means auDA has very few options to do anything at this time.

To get an idea of what kind of teeth auDA will have (and its ability to
deal with shonky practices) once the new system is in place, you need to
read the Registrar Agreement at www.auda.org.au (under "Transition").

This covers enforcement of the Code of Practice (and the Draft Consumer
Safeguards Policy which would apply until the Code of Practice is ready,
if the Code of Practice is not ready for the start of the new system).

For example, some clauses from the Registrar Agreement I find interesting:
4.2
7.2
7.4
11.3
13.1
14.2.3
14.2.6
15.3
15.4
15.5
23.1

I also agree with Craig that misleading and deceptive conduct in commerce
(especially where it caused an actual financial loss to a company which
has not been recouped) should be reported to the ACCC.  I don't see any
reason why shonky DNS resellers should be exempt from normal laws like
the Trade Practices Act, which apply in any other industry.

Why wait until auDA has the power to deal with it, when you can report
it to the proper authorities (the ACCC) now?

] Mark
] 
] I agree with your analysis.  At the end of the day, we need to understand that
] auDA as a self-regulatory body only has a contractual right to enforce
] behaviors which will breach a contract - that means that only parties who have
] entered into contracts with auDA will be bound.
] 
] Actions which are misleading etc. by parties who are not bound by auDA
] documents, are matters which are properly regulated by Government bodies such
] as ACCC.  Rather than making complaints on this forum, why not make a formal
] complaint to the ACCC, with information that you have.
] 
] Craig
] 
] 
] Craig Ng
] Partner
] Maddocks
] 
] t  +613 9288 0523
] f  +613 9288 0666
] e  craig.ng§maddocks.com.au

__________________________________________________________________________
 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