-----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:owner-discuss-list@;opensrs.org]On Behalf Of Elliot Noss Sent: Wednesday, November 06, 2002 12:30 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: Changing Admin Info after Refund >Genie: >You can do this today, with us, if your terms of service create this >relationship. This is your decision and well within your power to do, if >your contracts with the registrant reflect this. How can we do this when Tucows will not return the domain name to us? Our registration agreement clearly states that in the event of non-payment, through chargeback, bad check or whatever, that the domain name belongs to us and that we can return it to the registrant upon the resolution of the non-payment issue or we can retain it for our own use or resell. We clearly state we can charge up to $200.00 to recover our costs of process the non-payment before we return the domain to the registrant or we can keep the domain name instead of returning it once non-payment occurs. We charge a fee of $35 to cover costs when a non-payment event such as chargeback or bad check occurs. Plus the registration fee and chargeback fee. But if Tucows will not return the domain name to us, it does not matter that our contract with the client states we receive possession of the domain name in the event of non-payment. >Changing the relationship AFTER a chargeback or refund is outside the >contracts and if another registrar is allowing this they are doing so in >breach of their agreements. Again, we will revisit this with ICANN. We would >consider allowing this if we are assured we will not be in breach. I don't know of any registrar that does this. As stated the registrars regard the reseller as their client, so the domain name belongs to the person that pays them, the reseller. >You must keep in mind that when we introduced OpenSRS we essentially created >the concept of reseller. We recognized that ISPs, web hosting companies and >domain name resellers were the folks that actually sold domain names. We >received A LOT of resistance to this concept. One of the ways we were/are >able to defend it is to respect the contracts and recognize that we, as >registrar, have some level of responsibility to the registrant. In this case >with respect to whether the registrant information can be changed or not. I was a reseller with Network Solutions before OpenSRS existed. And I had control over the domain name, since I was the one that received the passwords, etc, after registering the domain with Network Solutions for my clients. I was also set up as Tech Contact, which allowed me to change nameservers, etc, which a Tucows reseller can not do. I respect Tucows for being the first to make low prices available. And the first to offer a good set of scripts to handle the process. While I made more per domain from Network Solutions than I do with OpenSRS, OpenSRS allowed me to offer lower registration prices to my clients. Which helped my hosting business attract new clients. So I do respect what OpenSRS did for the domain name market. But being first does not mean that you are always right. Loss of market share should show you that you need to change some of your policies and attitudes toward your resellers. >Lastly, especially given the state of the secondary market, I am not >convinced that having "control" of a name provides any greater liklihood of >obtaining payment than does having the name on hold. I completely understand >the "fairness" around it. Believe me you have no argument there. It is the >effect I question. We have resold many of the domain names that we took back as the result of a chargeback. We also charge a minimum fee of $35 to return a domain to a client that reneged on payment through use of a bad check or a chargeback. So overall the ability to take domains from clients that do not pay has resulted in a net profit for us for those domains that were chargebacked. We still have some of the domains but made enough off the ones resold or returned to the client to cover the cost of those domains. But more importantly, we do not receive as many chargebacks now that we state upfront that the client will lose control of the domain if they do not pay for it. Those who plan on doing this go to another site that does not have this protection. And unfortunately we do not register new clients with Tucows unless they request Tucows, which a few do. Most of our business with Tucows is servicing the domains that we registered with them in the past, i.e. renewals each year. Which is a shame, as I would have preferred staying with Tucows for all our business had they been willing to allow the reseller more control over the domains registered by the reseller with them.
