Thank you Bruce. This is an accurate over view of the documents and I
agree with your comments and conclusions. 

Chris Disspain
CEO - auDA
ceo§auda.org.au
www.auda.org.au
 

-----Original Message-----
From: Bruce Tonkin [mailto:Bruce.Tonkin§melbourneit.com.au] 
Sent: Thursday, 21 March 2002 10:58
To: 'dns§lists.auda.org.au'
Subject: [DNS] Critique of "renewal advice"

> 
> http://www.whatsinaname.com.au/renewals/wING04a.jpg
> 
> http://www.whatsinaname.com.au/renewals/wING04b.jpg
> 
> http://www.whatsinaname.com.au/renewals/wING04c.jpg
> 

Thank you to Joshua Rowe for providing a valuable service in keeping
track
of the various marketing practices in the industry today.

The notices above could confuse customers in several ways, and also
contain
incorrect information.  The following is a critique of the form with
respect
to factual information and the interim code of conduct.  I provide this
to
assist the code of conduct committee and also assist to educate both
existing and new members of the industry in developing their own
marketing
material.

First page:

(0) The interim code of conduct states:
"All Solicitations for business should be clearly identified as such,
and
should include a statement that the registrant is under no obligation to
respond and may choose to renew their domain name licence through their
existing registrar or reseller"

The heading "Renewal advice" does not make it clear to me personally
that
the notice is a solicitation for new business.  I would be interested to
hear if others agree with that view.  I think we will need to include
some
guidelines in the code of conduct in this area.


(1) The term "authorised channel partner" is no longer appropriate.  The
company is not a "partner" of Melbourne IT.  It is currently a reseller.

(2) If you are going to refer to "Administrator" - it should be clear
who
the Administrator in this context is:
ie "Melbourne IT Ltd, Administrator of com.au"

(3) The records referred to are not the records of Melbourne IT.  The
only
way to obtain correct the expiry date is directly from Melbourne IT
using:
http://www.melbourneit.com.au/maintenance/comau/expiry/.  A registrant
must
use the registry key.  It is likely that the expiry date listed is
derived
from the publicly available creation date.  It is quite possible that by
the
time a customer receives the notice, that the domain name had already
been
renewed by their existing supplier of domain name services.

Registrants should check their expiry date information online whenever
they
receive such a notice.

(4) There is no "minimum" renewal period.  The renewal period is FIXED
at 2
years.

(5) There are no recent changes to the renewal procedure.  The changes
are
with respect to the transfer of management of domain names between
resellers.

(6) You do not require the registry key to renew a domain name, only to
transfer between resellers, or to remove a reseller as your agent and
interact directly with Melbourne IT.

(7) The "2 year renewal $99 per annum" does not make it clear whether
you
will be charged on your credit card up front for $198 or whether you
will be
charged annually.

Under Frequently Asked Questions:

(8) What is a registry key and how do I get one?
The registry key is not required to renew a domain name.  The notice
does
not make it clear that by providing the registry key to a third party
you
are allowing the party to have full access to change your domain name
details including re-directing websites and email addresses to different
internet locations, and changing the contact details so that a
registrant no
longer receives notices directly.

(9) What is the process to renew my domain name?
The period of domain name registration is fixed for 2 years.  There is
no
variable length term.

(10) Can I cancel a renewal order?
The $88 cancellation fee would seem to be unreasonable if the domain
name
has already been renewed by another party, or if the customer believed
they
had been misled.

(11) I have received an offer from another party?
Anyone may legally act as the agent of a registrant and carry out
renewals
on their behalf.
An authorised reseller has access to a wholesale price and has
privileged
access to online services to assist resellers in domain name management.

(12) What is a channel partner?
There is now no such thing as a "channel partner".  All resellers should
cease using this term. 

(13) What is a Provisionally Accredited Registrar
There is no such thing as "Australian Domain Authority" - it should be:
".au Domain Administration Limited"

Regards,
Bruce Tonkin

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