Apparently not many think this is a problem (yet). As much as NSI has been
maligned for improper billing, I hate for OpenSRS RSP's to get a reputation
for doing the same thing.
The knowledge that at least one domain currently listed in my reseller
interface is no longer registered with OpenSRS has been worrying me, so I
decided I needed to find out if there were others. I modified a whois
script to check whois.crsnic.net for all the domain names listed in my
reseller interface. (I sure wish there was an easy way to export from that
list... but I digress.) The results are just as I feared - there were
others.
There are currently 12 domains listed in my reseller list which have been
moved to other registrars (8 different registrars!). I could easily have
billed these people for renewals based on the fact that they are still on my
reseller list, with the original (outdated) expiration dates, and I have
never received any notice of a registrar transfer. At the least, this would
have led the end-user to believe I don't know what's going on (true in this
case).
I think this is a real problem, affecting many, if not most, RSP's, and that
we need a solution. How about:
1. Update the database when a domain is transferred to another registrar, so
that the domain is no longer listed in the reseller list..
2. Notify the RSP when a domain is transferred to another registrar.
3. Implement a process that periodically checks the database for accuracy
against the registry.
Anyone else have any ideas?
----- Original Message -----
From: "Chuck Hatcher" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Tuesday, January 02, 2001 10:33 AM
Subject: Domain Transferred Away from OpenSRS Still In Reseller List
> One of my clients transferred the domain name "soundfx.com" from OpenSRS
to
> Register.com on December 7. The registry whois shows register.com as the
> current registrar, and whois.register.com shows my client as the owner and
> the expiration date as May 30, 2002. The problem is that the domain name
is
> still listed in my OpenSRS reseller interface with an expiration date of
May
> 30, 2001.
>
> It is only by accident that I discovered the registrar change, so I don't
> know if there are other domains in my reseller interface which are no
longer
> registered with OpenSRS. With renewal time coming up soon, I do NOT want
to
> bill clients for domain names they have moved away from me! There has
been
> a lot of talk about NSI billing for domain names which are no longer
> registered with them, and it is generally viewed as negligent, if not
> fraudulent. At the very least it is unprofessional. I feel I am in
danger
> of doing the same thing.
>
> Is there a process in place to reconcile the OpenSRS database with the
> shared registry? If so, how often does it happen (i.e. how long after a
> registrar transfer could a domain name still appear in the RWI)?
>
> Because of the way OpenSRS implements whois, querying the registry whois
> first, the problem doesn't show up there. But I don't want to check the
> whois for every domain name prior to billing for renewal!
>
> Is it possible register.com did not notify OpenSRS prior to transferring
the
> domain? This would be even more frightening.
>
> I hope this is just one isolated glitch in the system, but I fear it may
be
> more widespread.
>
> Chuck Hatcher
>
>
