Hello Michael,

> 
> This will cause the current registrars, melb it, connect, etc etc to
> affectivly hold records and keep the market share, not really 
> opening up
> the market at all.
> 

I am not sure what you mean here.

As I understand it, a registrant has paid for a 2 year service agreement
either directly with Melbourne IT, or they have paid an agent (reseller) to
act on their behalf and pay Melbourne IT.

They have already paid up front for this 2 year period, and are continuing
to receive the service they have paid for.  If they are not receiving the
service they have paid for then they can complain to auDA.

As I understand it, competition occurs in two places:
(1) At the time a registrant registers a new domain 
(2) At the time a registrant needs to renew their domain name licence

In each of these cases the registrant must pay a fee, and make their
decision of which supplier to use based on the prices and services available
from the competing companies, as they do now.

In the case of (2) they can either renew their existing licence with
Melbourne IT or a reseller of Melbourne IT, or they can choose a new
registrar and receive a domain name licence for 2 years with different terms
and conditions.

Thus at the time the new registry goes live, both areas (1) and (2) above
will be subject to competition at the registrar level as well as the
reseller level (which already occurs).

Transfers are available between resellers now.  Most of these occur at the
time of renewal, and the ones that occur outside that renewal period are
usually the result of misleading conduct (e.g quoting incorrect expiry
dates, pretending to be the original supplier etc).
The basis misleading approach is to charge the registrant for a service
which they
have already paid for (e.g to "manage" their domain for them), and then try
to charge them again at the time of renewal.  Charging a registrar for a
transfer transaction, as well
as a renewal and domain creation, ensures that the registrar provides
genuine service to the
registrant.

The special cases where a transfer is legitimately needed by a registrant in
the middle of an existing licence can be dealt with separately (e.g by a
complaints process).  If this becomes a significant issue we can change the
procedures.

The argument over whether a customer is more likely to stay with the
original provider of
 a service, and not elsewhere applies to any competitive market.  
Most people don't change unless they are receiving poor customer service, or
the competing offers are much better.
Just look at the loyalty of customers to holden cars etc, despite alot of
choice in the marketplace.



Regards,
Bruce Tonkin