What do you have in the dispute agreement on your site?
Does it state the transfer will not be approved if there is
an outstanding balance? Our does, plus it provides for a
penalty payment to get the domain name released when this
happens to cover our legal costs.
We have found this to be a problem as well, so we no longer
try to work with such clients. When they exceed their
limit, we give them one week to upgrade to a plan with
higher limits or a dedicated server.
If they don't we shut their site down, limiting our loss
with them.
Yes, we lose them as a client, but that's preferable to
losing money on them every month.
We have found that this type of client will not pay the
excess usage fees, so why allow him to run them up for
months without payment.
I suspect you are out the money, but send him a invoice for
the service and then turn him into a collection agency when
he does not pay the invoice.
Don't expect any support from OpenSRS, they support the end
user, not their clients, the resellers. Expect that they
will allow the client to transfer the domain name away.
There is a way around this, but OpenSRS will not like it.
Nor will they like my even mentioning it.
As I understand the facts the following are true:
A. You paid the fee to OpenSRS to register the domain names
in question. So you are OpenSRS's client in this issue.
B. You have the username and password for these domains, you
have never furnished them to your client. YOUR client can
not use the Domain Name Manager without you giving him this
information and under your business model you do not furnish
this information to YOUR clients.
If this is the case, just go into the domain name manager
and change all the domain information to your company. Then
you are the registered owner as well as the actual owner,
since you paid the fee to OpenSRS and retained control over
the domains by retaining control over the username and
passwords for the domains.
The client may sue you, but that would be between the client
and you. It would not involve OpenSRS, as they have never
received any money from this individual and you are their
client, not the person who is your client.
If they get involved, then you should have grounds for a
lawsuit against OpenSRS, as under their rules it is your
domain to do with as you wish since you paid for it and
retained the ownership control in the form of username and
password.
Here is what their faq's state on this subject:
End User FAQ:
Quote:
4. How do I change ownership of my domain name? (ie. I want
to sell it or give it to someone else)
You can simply give your username and password to the new
owner, and allow them to change the contact information
using the Manage Domain interface. They should also change
the domain's profile to a new one with a unique username and
password.
-----skip some lines------------
* It is important to remember that anyone with the profile
login information can change all info for all domains in the
profile, including ownership.
End Quote.
As you can see, they clearly state that as retainer of the
keys, you can make any changes you wish.
Quote:
5. What is the role of OpenSRS?
OpenSRS is a domain registrar that competes with other
domain registrars (Network Solutions, Register.com, etc.) in
the domain name market. What makes us unique is the fact
that we are strictly wholesale, providing services to
Registration Service Providers who in turn sell domain names
to people and companies worldwide.
End Quote.
They acknowledge here that they sell the domain to you, the
reseller, who then resells it. So it is none of their
business what relationship you have with your client and you
should be able to sue them if they attempt to interfere with
that relationship.
Quote:
15. Who does a registered name actually belong to, the end
user or the Registration Service Provider?
Domain names are not truly owned -- they're leased out on a
first-come, first-served basis, and remain with the initial
lessee until either a) the lessee does not renew the name,
or b) a business with a trademark of the same name
demonstrates a greater claim to the name than the lessee can
demonstrate. The question is better phrased as 'who can
control the domain name'. With OpenSRS, the answer is the
domain's Administrative Contact. This is usually specified
by the registrant during the registration process; however,
as each Registration Service Provider may have slightly
different policies in this matter, please consult individual
Registration Service Provider's websites for full details.
End Quote.
This clearly states that control is governed by policies
listed on your web site. It states that the admin contact
controls the domain name, but in item 4 gives the person
with the username and password the right to change the admin
contact.
So change the admin contact and other information to
yourself on these domains.
Then the client can not transfer them away from you and
OpenSRS, by their own writing faq's, can not get involved
with the issue.
I am not an attorney and am not giving legal advice. We do
have a good attorney on retainer who has advised me that
based on the information provided on their site, OpenSRS is
vulnerable to lawsuit from a reseller if they do remove a
domain from a reseller if a reseller challenges the
transfer, as the reseller is the actual owner of the domain
name since the reseller paid OpenSRS for it. Unless OpenSRS
is directed to do so by a court or by ICANN.
However, it would be expensive to litigate this issue and
probably would not be worth the time or expense over a few
domain names.
The better solution is to switch to a Registrar that
understands the reseller is their client and supports their
client in these issues. Which is what we have done.
We no longer use OpenSRS to register new domains and try to
transfer existing domains from OpenSRS as they come due for
renewal.
I would suggest you just write these domains off, invoice
the client for the full amount owed and then turn him over
to a collection agency. You probably will never see any of
the money, but as least you will make his life miserable for
a while and put a blemish on his credit report.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf
> Of Stewart Boutcher
> Sent: Wednesday, April 25, 2001 3:37 AM
> To: OpenSRS Discuss List
> Cc: Jonathan Wood
> Subject: Legal/Ethical question for the list
>
>
> Hi,
>
> We have a customer who is one of those pain in
> the ass customers who is
> continually complaining about this & that related
> to his service, and is
> never keen to pay any money for anything.
>
> We have 8 domains registered for this customer,
> including 3 or 4 through OpenSRS.
>
> Over the past year, the data transfer used by
> this customer's web site has gone
> through the roof. Our Virtual Server packages
> allow 2gb per month, and for the
> past 6 months, he has increasingly exceeded this,
> up to a predicted 10gb this month,
> with 8.5gb last month.
>
> Rather than just shut him off, we attempted to
> negotiate with him about moving to
> a managed server with more data transfer. To cut
> a long story short, he was not
> playing, so we said "fair enough, here's a bill
> for excess data transfer as per
> our T&C".
>
> Now he is attempting to transfer domains away
> from us in order to set-up his
> web site elsewhere without paying this bill. We
> are fine with the Nominet domains
> (.uk) because their member agreement allows for
> refusal to transfer if *any* money
> is owed by the customer.
>
> What the position with OpenSRS? Yes, I know that
> we are supposed to give the
> customer their own profile details, but frankly
> not many of them care, they just
> want the service provided, so we don't do so
> unless we are asked to. In most cases,
> when asked we simply provide the details and let
> them get on with it. However,
> in this case, we are owed money, and I am not
> keen to allow the customer to simply
> move elsewhere and not pay us.
>
> Since Nominet, well regarded as a good model for
> not-for-profit domain registrar,
> have a method of dealing with this, does OpenSRS
> and therefore what are *my* rights
> as registrar?
>
> Look forward to your responses.
> Regards,
> --
> Stewart Boutcher
> Systems Support
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> WebWorlds.Net - Internet Solutions For Business
> 1 Westgate, Otley, West Yorkshire LS21 3AT
> url: http://webworlds.net/
> tel: 0845 0900 191 (UK)
> +44 1943 851 200 (International)
>
> Registered in England No 3229164
> Registered office: 20-22 Bedford Row, London WC1R 4JS
> WebWorlds is a registered trade mark of WebWorlds Limited
>
> WebWorlds.Net is a proud sponsor of http://localweb.co.uk/
>
