> What
> I'm talking about here is a practice of resellers and Registrars, not
> giving the domain name registrant full possession of the registration
> but retaining ownership over the domain name to control the user in
> their hosting and other service preferences.  A practice I personally
> deplore.
> 

Agreed.

However the ability of a reseller or registrar to differentiate their
services that are provided as part of their agreement with the registrant,
should be subject to normal commercial competition.  auDA's role is to set
the minimum standards for the agreement with the registrant - and certainly
they should prevent a reseller or registrar being able to retain control of
the domain name.

Regards,
Bruce Tonkin