Actually Patrick its a very simple issue.

Regardless of who you actually pay money to the contractual relationship
involved in the registration of a domain name is between the registrar and
the registrant. A reseller can of course add their own terms and conditions
but the registrars agreement must be included.

This applies in com.au and also in other spaces, especially the gTLDs.
It is a requirement of the ICANN registrar accreditation agreement that
registrants must enter into an agreement with the Registrar (see below):

From: http://www.icann.org/registrars/ra-agreement-17may01.htm
<snip>
3.7.7 Registrar shall require all Registered Name Holders to enter into
an electronic or paper registration agreement with Registrar including at
least the following provisions:
</snip>

If you are buying a name through a reseller of OpenSRS (or Melbourne IT
or any other ICANN accredited registrar) they are required to provide you
with a copy of the registration agreement from the relevant registrar either
as part of or in addition to their terms and conditions.

If your reseller is not doing so I would be happy to bring this to ICANNs
attention as I know this is a practice that they are keen to stamp out.

regards
jon

>-- Original Message --
>From: "Patrick Corliss" <patrick&#167;quad.net.au>
>To: "Jon Lawrence" <jon&#167;jonlawrence.com>
>Cc: "[dns]" <dns&#167;auda.org.au>
>Subject: Re: [DNS] Provisionally Accredited Registrars and Interim Code

>of Practice
>Date: Sat, 23 Mar 2002 01:03:46 +1100
>
>
>On Fri, 22 Mar 2002 09:50:13 +0000, Jon Lawrence wrote:
>
>
>> >Which means every reseller of .com.au domains must advertise Melbourne
>> > IT on each of their web pages.
>>
>> ...given that every registrant of a .com.au domain name is entering into
>> a contract with the administrator (at this point Melbourne IT) surely
they
>> have a legal right to know who they are contracting with.
>
>Hi Jon
>
>I don't see why a registrant using a reseller is entering into a contract
>with
>the registrar. I have registered a number of domain names with an OpenSRS
>reseller operating in Australia. He, in turn, registers with OpenSRS.
 I
>see
>my dealings are with the reseller rather than the registrar. That's who
>I pay
>my money to !!
>
>What about the situation where a professional accountant or solicitor,
for
>example, who was not a reseller, registered domain names on behalf of a
>client. Clearly they are providing a service and any breach of the terms
>of
>the contract is between the professional and their client. That's known
>as
>"privity of contract".
>
>I agree with Peter Dean here and wonder why a reseller should be compelled
>to
>advise their client the details of the registrar particularly in a case
where
>a reseller may well be associated with more than one registrar (as is
>possible).
>
>Of course, pricing may well be a factor. Insurance companies, for example,
>charge the same premium whether you buy direct or through a broker. Airlines,
>however, are now cutting out travel agents by giving discounts to direct
>purchasers.
>
>If registrars want to sign up resellers (what used to be called "channel
>partners") they are likely to give a cut price discount for bulk purchases
>or
>payments in advance. That makes the registrar into more of a wholesaler.
>
>And nobody needs to know the identity of the wholesaler.
>
>What is important, however, is that the registrant has got access to an
>appropriate procedure for making complaints. One way is to complain directly
>to the registrar (for which the registrant needs to know who that was)
but
>another way is for auDA to handle complaints against resellers. This could
>be
>done by auDA forwarding the complaint on to the relevant registrar in the
>first instance.
>
>The problem really hinges on whether auDA wants to get stuck in the middle
>of
>a complaint procedure against resellers. My view is that auDA would rather
>stay out of that process. If so, the reseller will need to disclose the
>identity of the registrar.
>
>Thus registrars can handle complaints against resellers and auDA will be
>confined to handling complaints against registrars. That's sensible, imo.
>
>I don't think it (disclosing the details of the registrar) will matter
very
>much provided there is no incentive for the registrant to bypass the reseller
>and deal directly with the registrar.
>
>In other words, I'd ask Peter whether he thinks there is any likelihood
that
>people (ie registrants) will buy direct from the registrar if they know
who
>it
>is?
>
>Regards
>Patrick Corliss
>_________________________________________________________
>I'm on the Board of auDA (the .au country code) as well as TLDA (the Top
>Level Domain Association). Please note that anything I write is my own
>personal opinion and does not necessarily reflect the views of any body
>with which I am associated. Please also note IANAL (I Am Not A Lawyer).
>
>
>