On 18 Nov 2002 at 11:57, Rod Keys wrote:

> http://www.philelmore.com/profiling/fieldguidetotrolls.htm

Well gang ain't it great that Rod has figured out what a troll is (see list posts 28/10 
passim).

Then of course there is the unsolicited mail troll who preys on unsuspecting innocents. 
These particularly pernicious types send out letters to Australian registrants of gTLD 
domains months before they are due offering to renew them for, wait for it, $132 (for 2 
years including GST). But wait there is more. You can get an optional "Certificate of 
Domain name Ownership" for $20. 

Now it is hard to see how this troll can claim to offer a "Certificate of Domain name 
Ownership" when as well all know a domain name is like beer - you don't own it you just 
rent it. Isn't that right Rod?

The offer is headed "Australia's Trusted Domain Name Provider". Rod do you know how 
they "provide" domains, especially Top Level Domains, when they are not an ICANN 
accredited registrar.

"Australia's Trusted Domain Name Provider" also uses the auDA logo to decorate this 
offer. Can anyone tell me if they are entitled to use this logo if the offer is unrelated to a 
.au domain?

The letter also claims that if the registrant does not renew the domain it could be 
registered by a competitor of the registrant. But wouldn't that be misleading and passing 
off Rod?

And the troll's letter invites the registrant to "renew today at the lowest price". Compared 
to what Rod?  The troll's  previous prices? One of our new clients got caught by this troll 
and paid $200+ to renew their .com.au domain a few months ago. Rod, would you care 
to speculate as to the added value this troll might be providing?

The final irony is that this domain is registered via Totalnic (aka Capital Networks) and 
as we all know they won't let you transfer a domain away from them without more doco 
than it takes to open a bank account. So it seems to me that the troll would not be able 
to renew the domain anyway except maybe at Totalnic's not inexpensive prices. And 
that wouldn't give sufficient mark up would it Rod?


cb