Re: [DNS] Consumer Alert

Re: [DNS] Consumer Alert

From: Jon Lawrence <jon§jonlawrence.com>
Date: Thu, 6 Mar 2003 09:21:55 +0000
<snip>
This issue is not going to go away, solutionS must be implemented, if this

problem continues to occur causing many registrants to get 'burned' they

will lose faith in the Australian domain name system and go to another 
domain name space.
</snip>

Oh come on...let's get this into perspective.  Firstly there are plenty
of scams, probably more, going on in other domain spaces - the gTLDs especially
as they are far less regulated and ICANN has shown itself fairly unwilling
& arguably unable to get involved in policing many of these issues.  There
are also plenty of scams going on here in the UK.  Nominet has only recently
begun to appreciate that they have to be involved in policing these issues.
 

Secondly, auDA is, in my opinion doing a lot of good work towards cleaning
up these practices.  In this instance, they have already acted with a consumer
alert.  You may question the effectiveness of this but at least they've
done something.  Lets also not forget that auDA was closely involved in
bringing ING to account. To auDA's credit, they have put a regulatory system
together that 
has stamping out unethical marketing as one of it's fundamental aims.  Again,
you may question whether they are effective at that or not but it's a massive
step in the right direction IMHO.

Thirdly, are registrants really going to stop using .au domain names if
they get burnt by an unsrcupulous operator?  I doubt that very much, and
I think you are significantly underestimating the intrinsic brand value
in using a .au domain name within the Australian market.  I think it is
far more likely that a registrant that has had such an experience will instead
take far more care to ensure that they are dealing with an ethical, quality
service provider in future.  

regards

jon


>-- Original Message --
>Reply-To: dns&#167;lists.auda.org.au
>To: dns&#167;lists.auda.org.au
>From: Jason Pay <jasonpay&#167;au1.ibm.com>
>Date: Thu, 6 Mar 2003 10:13:59 +1100
>Subject: Re: [DNS] Consumer Alert
>
>
>Kim wrote:
>>Quoting Jason Pay on Wednesday March 05, 2003:
>>| The Registrar fees paid to auDA should be enough to pay for a quarterly
>
>
>>| auDA 'Authoritative' mail out similar to the one I mentioned below.
>>At the end of the day, for most people domain registration is an
>>inconsequential one-off procedure that they should do once and not worry
>>about again. In fact, for most it is a procedure done by proxy by their
>>ISP or web developer, so they don't know anything about it.
>>Such a mailout is treating the symptoms rather than curing the problem.
>>(Admittedly, at the moment the industry needs a bit of both..)
>>Wearing an "uneducated" domain name holder hat, I don't want to know
>>about my domain unless I have to renew it. Just like my business
>>name, and various other licences. I probably don't want to know the
>>intricacies of our industry. Similarly I don't want to know about how
>>my ISP makes routing arrangements, or where my office builder buys his
>>cement.
>>And now, back to reality. :)
>>kim
>
>How many alerts occur per year? Maybe an auDA 'alert' email should be sent
>
>to registrants as well as posting on the web site? 
>
>The problem is that there is no way to stop organisations from doing a

>misleading mailout, and several different companies have done so in the

>past.
>
>Placing an alert on the auDA web site is only advising people who have
an
>
>interest in the industry, as you state, registrants are not interested
in
>
>the industry news, they are only interested in when their domain name 
>expires/needs renewing. I wonder how many registrants have actually 
>visited the auDA web site?
>
>In any case, most of the damage will have already occurred by the time
the
>
>alert gets to registrants, and as you state, many may not find out about
>
>the alert at all.
>
>There is no way to enforce a policy on resellers, it a reseller gets 
>banned, they would just close down their companies and start a new one,

>and this would lead to more concerns for the industry.
>
>The only way to solve the situation is to inform the registrants and their
>
>agents, then if a company does send out a misleading renew guide, the 
>registrants will see it for what it is - 'misleading'.
>
>This issue is not going to go away, solutionS must be implemented, if this
>
>problem continues to occur causing many registrants to get 'burned' they
>
>will lose faith in the Australian domain name system and go to another

>domain name space.
>
>auDA has a large responsibility with regard to this issue, and auDA has

>the most to lose. This problem need to be made a priority for auDA, and

>not left to the market to sort out. If the market is left to sort it out,
>
>the majority of registrar's, ethical or not will suffer in the long term.
>
>
>Jason Pay
Received on Fri Oct 03 2003 - 00:00:00 UTC

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