Bruce


If have a sales office that is not performing I close it.

If I have a vehicle that is constantly causing trouble I get rid of it.

If this industry has a constant problem with re-sellers then get rid of
them.

The cost of registering a domain name is minimal however the time and effort
it takes to sort out what unwanted solicitation is from who and why they are
sending it, then finding out that I myself have been mislead and paid monies
to a third party supplier that charged me 62% more for the service, takes up
more time and adds an extra burden to the operation of any business. This
time, effort and the unwanted additional administrative task has cost me
more than I can calculate.

I would willingly pay more if it meant that his bi-annual event is
administered correctly  by only one authorised body and that the task of
renewal is as simple as paying for my car registration.

As for a code of practice, well we would not need one and all of our time
could be spent on making our own respective businesses operate better.


Colin Read


----- Original Message -----
From: "Bruce Tonkin" <Bruce.Tonkin&#167;melbourneit.com.au>
To: <dns&#167;auda.org.au>
Sent: Wednesday, November 21, 2001 11:20 AM
Subject: [DNS] Consumer education and code of conduct


> Several people have been discussing issues relating to the conduct of some
> domain name retailers, and the need for the development of a code of
conduct
> with appropriate public input.
>
> My view is that:
> (1) Consumer education is the first step in limiting the effectiveness of
> undesirable business practices.  As Chris Disspain pointed out, all
members
> of the industry bear some responsibility for educating their customers.
> auDA does have an important role though in being an independent "industry
> self regulator" to provide consumer alerts from a credible "independent"
> source.  ie we should explicitly reference the consumer alerts on the auDA
> website (or ACCC) website.  I have noticed that some organisations are
> issuing their own customer alerts where the wording itself can
misrepresent
> the issue to the consumer.  I myself would distrust any "consumer alert"
> from an individual company selling domain names using its own words.
> Melbourne IT actively encouraged both the ACCC and auDA to issue
independent
> consumer alerts.
>
> (2) A code of conduct is important to ensure that there is a standard that
> all in the industry can work towards.  A new entrant into the industry
that
> wishes to operate ethically needs a central place to learn about
appropriate
> practices in the industry.  I think auDA as the industry self regulator
has
> a very important role in facilitating the development of a code of conduct
> with wide industry and consumer consultation.  Where possible we should
> "borrow" appropriate clauses from codes such as the ACIF codes and other
> industry codes, rather than re-inventing the wheel.
>
> (3) The issue of enforcement is always a difficult one.  For example the
> Trade Practices Act is a double edged sword.  It can be used to try to
> prevent the business practices of a domain name reseller, but that domain
> name reseller can also use the act to defend against any action.  The fact
> that no action has been taken by experts in the Trade Practices Act (such
as
> the ACCC) implies that it is a complex legal area.   Relying on legal
> enforcement is usually the course of last resort in industry regulation,
and
> is generally very expensive for all parties in any legal action.  It is
far
> better to work on prevention (ie (1) and (2) above).
>
> It concerns me that too much emphasis has been put on the issue of
> enforcement and not enough emphasis (by all in the industry) on improving
> knowledge.  As Chris Disspain has stated, auDA cannot do this on its own,
> unless you would all like to see a large jump in domain name prices to
fund
> the costs of extensive broad brushed advertising campaigns.  If auDA
chooses
> to use legal enforcement as its primary activity, this will result in a
> large jump in domain name prices as auDA spends vast sums of money on
> lawyers in the inevitable court cases that will follow.  All members of
the
> industry should work together to improve the industry rather than placing
> all the responsibility on auDA.
>
> Remember there is a cost in regulation, and unreasonable demands on auDA
> will inevitably result in higher prices for domain names.
>
> Regards,
> Bruce Tonkin
>
> --
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>

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