dotregister wrote:
> Hello!
>
> I wanted to discuss an issue regarding ICANN regulations on domain transfers
> and how TUCOWS as compared to other registry’s deals with this issue.
>
> We had an incident recently where a client who owed us for hosting services
> managed to completely bypass us (the reseller) and go to TUCOWS compliance
> and get the domain unlocked and transferred away. We obviously will now never
> see the money owed to us.
>
> I mention this because I did contact TUCOWS about this and the compliance
> dept. told me that TUCOWS does not allow the reseller to stop any domain
> transfer just because the registrant owes the reseller monies. They said this
> was compliant with ICANN policies regarding this issue.
>
> In this past week we were trying to help a client gain administrative control
> over a domain that was registered through a reseller of ENOM.COM. The
> reseller refused to give the registrant access to the domain until an
> outstanding invoice was paid. We went to ENOM about this issue and they said
> it was "up to the reseller to decide how ever they wanted to do it." The
> reseller then told the registrant (our hosting client) that the cost to
> change the domain admin email address would be $200 USD! We again went to
> ENOM.COM about this and a totally different individual told us "The reseller
> can charge pretty much what they want."
>
> Now...We were told that we could not hold or disallow admin/transfer access
> to domains for unpaid invoices by TUCOWS compliance. (I was told explicitly
> that this was the "legal" ICANN regulation).
>
> If this is true, then how come ENOM doesn't follow that rule? Is it just the
> TUCOWS interpretation of that regulation?
>
> I am very interested to know what the truth is in this issue. I spoke to the
> reseller for ENOM and they told me they had run all this past their legal
> team (holding domains for unpaid invoices) and it was perfectly legal.
>
>
> I am not looking to take advantage of any registrant, I am just very curious
> as to why the policies are so different, and each registry claims to be right.
The rules are quite clear. Unfortunatley, ICANN and Verisign's
compliance programs (as well as the other registries) basically give
registrars a free hand to do whatever they wish. For some reason, we
feel compelled to actually follow the rules. This means that you
shouldn't expect to get fair treatment in the marketplace (i.e. decent
registration rates in the landrush, fair dealing when your customers
want to transfer in or out, and so on..)
FWIW, the rule is:
Instances when the requested change of Registrar may not be denied
include, but are not limited to:
..snip...
General payment defaults between Registrar and business partners /
affiliates in cases where the Registered Name Holder for the domain in
question has paid for the registration.
...which is worth about as much as the bits it took to write this.
--
-rr
"Don't be too timid and squeamish about your actions.
All life is an experiment.
The more experiments you make the better."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Contact Info:
Ross Rader
Director, Research & Innovation
Tucows Inc.
c. 416.828.8783
Get Started? http://start.tucows.com
My Blogware: http://www.byte.org
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