"William X. Walsh" wrote:
>
>
> Why do you need to be the admin contact for the domains?
To perform transfers to start with. As I said in my previous email, I
think you're assuming that the company managing the domain is in the
domain selling business. If you provide support then you need to be able
to fully manage the domain because you're the one responsible for moving
that domain if some other registrar, hosting company or whatever offers
a better deal.
How can I perform transfers for my clients if I'm not the admin contact?
> > It may be a fact of life but that doesn't mean that ethical companies
> > can't provide a good service. The ethical companies are answering
>
> The ethical customers can do this without being the admin contact.
Ethical companies I think you meant and no they can't because the admin
contact is required to perform certain functions that the technical
contact cannot, such as authorise transfers.
> > You don't address the situation I explicitly listed, where a company is
> > paid explicitly to deal with all aspects of domain management, with the
> > full knowledge of the client that the company is acting on their behalf
> > in all matters. We have many clients who just have a PC in their bedroom
>
> And again, this does not require that the ISP be listed as admin
> contact.
We're not talking about ISPs we're talking about support companies.
> > and know nothing about the internet but are selling their "hobby" in
> > their spare time on their website. These clients wouldn't know what to
> > do with any contact from the registrar and would immediately pass the
> > matter on to us. In those cases they knowingly and willingly make us the
> > admin contact.
>
> I question the knowingly part. I do not think they understand that
> this effectively makes you the owner of their domain names, and that
> in the event of a dispute, you could assert ownership rights over
> their domain name. I think those customers are not being explained
> that being the admin contact for their domain is nothing to be scared
> of, or to be feared. And that being the admin contact does not mean
> they are not permitting their ISP to manage the domain for them as the
> tech contact.
How can I possibly assert ownership rights over a domain by being the
admin contact? As the system administrator I have no claim of ownership
over what I administer, including the domain names.
> > I think you're trying to make it a clear cut issue when it isn't one.
>
> It really is one. There is no reason for an ISP to be the admin
> contact, and no reason for the customer to not be the admin contact.
> In my eyes, and I think I am not alone here, that is a clear cut
> matter.
I don't seem to be getting the situation I'm referring to across clearly
enough. This is not a situation where there is an ISP. This is a
situation where you are explicitly hired to be the "admin contact". You
represent the company you're providing support for in all respects, just
as though you were an employee.
If I was working in a company and was responsible for managing the
domain names then I would be the admin contact, if I was working in that
company as a contractor who was responsible for domain management then I
would be the admin contact, if the company outsources that role to me as
part of a support contract then I'd continue to be the admin contact. I
effectively am the customer, I am equivalent to them in all respects in
terms of management of the domains because that is what they pay me to
do. There is no confusion over who actually owns the domain, in the same
way as there is no confusion over who owns the physical assets that I'm
responsible for. Being the admin contact is no different to being the
point of contact for other support calls.
> Again I ask you, what is it that you need to be the admin contact to
> do on behalf of your customers that you could not do as the tech
> contact?
As well as the issue of performing transfers, there are the occasional
mailings from the registrar about some issue or another that the client
does not want to have to deal with. The issue with OpenSRS, which is the
only registrar I've come across that forces the owner and admin to be
the same is that the domain admin is the person who has access to the
management environment. The whole point of having a support contract is
to not have to deal with these issues, in the same way that getting a
support contract for your server means you don't have to worry about
allocating user accounts or email addresses. I'm talking about companies
that don't have an internal IT dept but have a significant IT
infrastructure, they outsource everything and you act on their behalf as
though you worked there.
> What is the negative to the customer to be listed as the admin contact
> for their own domain?
They have to do work that they are paying to have taken off their hands.
Paul.
