I agree. This sounds like a potentially serious oversite. As you say, one
that could be very embarassing to OpenSRS.
I think I'd add one thing to your list. Some kind of reseller 'history'
that includes these transfer transactions so that they can be searched or
browsed at a later date. I could see a situation where a reseller loses or
doesn't notice the email notification from OpenSRS and sometime down the
line wonders where the heck the domain went.
Jim
----- Original Message -----
From: "Chuck Hatcher" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Saturday, January 13, 2001 8:41 AM
Subject: Re: Domain Transferred Away from OpenSRS Still In Reseller List
> 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 reseller list, with the original (outdated) expiration dates, and I have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
