Hi Vic,

Thanks for the email.  The use of software is not indicative of a  
reseller, are your virtual registrars bound by the auDA reseller terms  
solely because they use your software?  None the less, you should be  
commended for your sleuthing.  Uregister integrated our software prior  
to the .au accreditation of Bottle Domains.  At that stage they were  
treated as a testbed 'reseller', and we previously used their  
integration to promote our software (given the calibre of their  
installation).

Once Bottle Domains was accredited as a .au registrar, uregister were  
reduced to a .au affiliate (they chose not to complete our reseller  
agreement at that time).  They therefore acted only as a third party  
referral of business, this is legally very different to a reseller from  
our perspective.  I don't think we need to publicly state this, however  
domain applications which have been clearly channeled through this  
particular referral (that's not to say there have been any), have been  
refused/suspended whilst unresolved issues between auDA and uregister  
exist.

However I will raise this general point again.  Walking away from  
organisations who have breached auDA policy in the past (as a lot of  
them have, all be it minor), is the easy way out.  Wouldn't an ideal  
world have a responsible registrar take it upon themselves to regulate  
such troublesome organisations through the correct industry channels  
and not palm off to others?

Can you give me an example of any case where an organisation has been  
successfully refused sale by all registrars industrywide (auDA  
enforcements excepted)?  Surely top registrars (enetica included) are  
better able to handle such organisations with our dedicated legal and  
reseller staff, than some of the smaller registrars.  Shouldn't we lead  
by example to show our dedication to the policy that sets our domain  
space apart from the rest of the world?

It's very easy to wipe your hands of something that's dirty.  Not so  
easy to clean it.

Bottle Domains is made up of many talented staff who have significant  
experience in the .au industry, and believe that we have a lot too  
offer the industry in its growth and education of new policy.  I will  
defend greatly any claims that our decisions are driven solely by the  
quest for revenue.  Innovation is the key to success in our industry,  
it shouldn't be a PR game.

Good luck with your business.

Nick




On Wednesday, March 5, 2003, at 12:28 PM, Deus Ex Machina wrote:

> John Thomson [john§hep10.com] wrote:
>> Hi All
>>
>> I used to use bottle as my main registrar for registering domain  
>> names and
>> its a fully automated system. There is no easy way for them to block  
>> certain
>> users.
>
> its come to my attention that bottle have been using uregister as a  
> reference site
> for its reseller system. so it would appear the relationship is not as  
> arms length as
> has been made to appear the url clearly indicate uregister has a  
> reseller account
> which could trivially be blocked.
>
> if Nick doesnt have the programing skill to cancel an account or  
> prevent "strangers" from
> accessing his reseller system then I am willing to lend him one of my  
> programers at no cost
> to do it for him.
>
> Vic
>
>
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