[registrars] Fw: Email Response to Letter from Verisign's Roger Cochetti dated July 16, 2001

["erica" <erica.roberts@bigpond.com>]

Again - for those who are not following the GA list ....
below is a response from ISPs/IPPs to the Cochetti letter to Stuart Lynn

It would be useful if the Registrars C could hammer out some policy
principles so that we can begin to move from the 'crisis-management' toward
an agreed and predictable framework for operation.

erica
----- Original Message -----
From: "William X. Walsh" <william@userfriendly.com>
To: <ga@dnso.org>
Sent: Saturday, July 21, 2001 4:19 AM
Subject: Email Response to Letter from Verisign's Roger Cochetti dated July
16, 2001


>
> This is a copy of a letter sent today via email, fax, and postal mail
> to Stuart Lynn, CEO of ICANN, in response to a letter from Roger
> Cochetti to Mr Lynn dated July 16th regarding domain name transfer
> issues.
>
> You are receiving this email because you are either on the DNSO
> General Assembly mailing list, or because you are a member of the DNSO
> Names Council or the Board of Directors of ICANN.
>
> Names Council members, the signers of this letter request that you
> forward a copy of this letter to your constituency members for their
> reference.
>
> William Walsh
> Userfriendly.com
>
>
> This is a forwarded message
> From: William X. Walsh <william@userfriendly.com>
> To: Stuart Lynn <lynn@icann.org>
> Date: Friday, July 20, 2001, 1:12:49 PM
> Subject: Email Response to Letter from Verisign's Roger Cochetti dated
July 16, 2001
>
> ===8<==============Original message text===============
>
> [Copy to Follow via Fax and Postal Mail]
>
> July 20, 2001
> Mr. Stuart Lynn
> President and Chief Executive Officer
> Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
> 4676 Admiralty Way, Suite 330
> Marina del Rey, CA
>
> RE: Response to Cochetti letter dated July 16, 2001
>
> Dear Mr. Lynn,
>
> In his July 16th letter, Mr Cochetti referred to rampant unauthorized
> domain name transfers from the Verisign Registrar.  In his letter he
> mentioned a survey that Verisign conducted which he claims illustrated
> that a significant number of domain registrants whose domain names
> were transferred out of Verisign to other competing registrars were in
> fact unauthorized by the domain registrant.  His evidence is that
> roughly 24% of those surveyed claimed they did not ever request to be
> transferred, and that 33% did not even know they had been transferred.
>
> These numbers sure sound ominous on their face.  However, they only
> appear that way because the survey did not take into account many
> realities that have been involved in the domain registration industry
> since prior to the introduction of competitive registrars in 1999.
>
> ISPs/IPPs (Internet Service Providers and Internet Presence Providers)
> have for many years handled the domain registration service on behalf
> of their customers, and did so with their customers' consent.  In
> fact, the management of the domain registration, renewal, and updates,
> were considered a part of the complete customer service that ISPs and
> IPPs had long offered.  Many times the customer was not even aware of
> who Network Solutions was, and if they had heard of them,  had no idea
> what their role was.  They expected that their ISP/IPP was responsible
> for that, and entrusted the management of their domain registration to
> them.
>
> Prior to the introduction of competitive registrars, Network
> Solutions' tremendous growth in domain registrations was probably more
> directly a result of this kind of service from ISP/IPPs.  Many
> ISP/IPPs felt mistreated by Network Solutions' when they began
> advertising web hosting services on whois pages and other pages in the
> Network Solutions site, which motivated many more of them to add
> additional buffers between NSI and the customers of the ISP/IPP.
>
> When companies such as Tucows and BulkRegister.com began offering
> competitive domain name registration, and specifically catered to the
> needs and concerns of the ISP/IPP community, many thousands of them
> flocked to sign up to process domain registrations and renewals (aka
> transfers) through their wholesale offerings.  Most of them had
> numerous domains at Network Solutions registered to themselves and
> their customers.  While many did mass transfers of all their domains,
> others did them over time, or as they would come close to renewal.
> The end users, or registrants, expected their ISP/IPPs to make these
> decisions for them, and if they were asked to approve an email notice
> they received, they simply did it.  Again, this was a part of the
> trust they put into their ISP/IPP.
>
> As ISP/IPPs it was our responsibility to provide the best service to
> our customers, and that included managing their domain name service
> for them, and making decisions with regard to suppliers.  Suppliers
> are not only those companies who provide the dedicated connectivity
> that we host their sites on, but also their domain name registrations.
>  Just as we would not seek a customer's permission to move our servers
>  off of a connection from one Telco to another who can provide better
>  service to us, we would not ask our customers to learn and understand
>  all the intricacies of the domain registration business and all the
>  companies and names involved simply because we were switching
>  wholesale providers.  Those decisions are ones they expect us to
>  make, and prefer to be as distant from them as possible.
>
> It is our contention that the survey Verisign conducted was flawed at
> its most basic levels by making assumptions that domain registrants
> were even aware of what a domain transfer was, or that their domain
> was ever registered at Verisign, or even what any of that meant.
> According to comments made by Tucows CEO Elliot Noss to Newsbytes, the
> cases that Verisign has quoted to the registrars as examples of the
> unauthorized transfers were exactly the types of cases referred to
> above.
>
> As ISP/IPPs dealing with customers who want and expect better domain
> name registration service, we have had to deal with the existing
> change in policy at Verisign that requires an additional
> acknowledgement to Verisign of the registrant's intent to transfer or
> the transfer is blocked.  We are in the trenches seeing the real world
> implementation of this policy, and we can tell you first hand that it
> is not working the way Verisign is claiming it is.  Many times these
> verification messages are sent out very late, if at all, and the
> default blocking policy goes into effect before the registrant has
> anything resembling a reasonable chance to respond.  Many times they
> don't even understand the message, so their response is delayed
> further while they contact their ISP/IPP asking what to do.  If these
> messages were always sent out the first day the registrar received the
> automated notice of the outgoing transfer request, this might not be
> such a big issue.  However, Verisign's systems regularly fail to do
> that.
>
> The delays caused by this policy are great.  The transfer request has
> to be resubmitted, after the initial one has timed out at the
> registry, and the process starts again.  Hopefully, Verisign sends the
> notice out with more expediency the second time around.  However, many
> domain registrants are experiencing such long delays in finally
> getting a domain transfer processed because of this policy, that their
> domain names pass the renewal date, and then Verisign denies the
> transfer claiming they are then owed the renewal fee of $35.00USD
> before they will release the domain for a transfer.
>
> We are seeing this in so many cases on a weekly basis, that we can
> only believe that this system was intentionally put in place to hamper
> the transfer process and thus stem the tide of domain registrations,
> and the related revenue, that has been flooding out of the Verisign
> Registrar.   And when Verisign was called on it by providers such as
> Tucows, Verisign created this excuse to justify their policy, and to
> justify an even more extreme suggested policy that would effectively
> force transfers to have a much steeper expense in both monetary cost
> as well as time and convenience.
>
> These actions are anti-competitive in the extreme.  We find Verisign's
> accusations which claim actions by ISP/IPPs such as ourselves
> constitute "domain slamming" to be offensive accusations, which
> deliberately leave out the full and true facts of the cases in order
> to justify their anti-competitive positions and stance, and protect
> their dominant position which they hold only because of their prior
> monopolistic state.
>
> Cochetti states in this letter that "most customers register with the
> VeriSign Registrar because of its uniquely strong commitment to
> customer service and the notion of trust on the Internet."  However,
> the truth of the matter is that the most customers do not even know
> who Verisign is, or exactly what their role is in the market, or the
> difference between Verisign's registrar and registry services.  It
> also ignores the fact that most of the domain name registrants in
> their service were funneled to them via ISP/IPPs who marketed the
> concept of having a domain name and internet presence to these
> registrants.  The business Verisign got from those transactions was
> incidental, and mostly a result of there being no competitive market
> or alternatives at the time.
>
> As ISP/IPPs we are all deeply involved and concerned in matters of
> domain policy, and see first hand the effects of those policies on
> both our own businesses and the end user/registrants.  We are deeply
> concerned with any movement by Verisign to push ICANN into developing
> excessively prohibitive policies that are meant more to bolster the
> position of Verisign rather than to meet ICANN's obligation under its
> Memorandum of Understanding with the US Government Department of
> Commerce to foster a competitive environment in the domain name
> industry.
>
> If Verisign was truly concerned about making sure that domain
> registrants are given the opportunity to block unwanted transfers from
> them, they would instead adopt a policy similar to the one that Tucows
> has adopted for outgoing transfers.  The administrative contact for
> the domain is given notice that a transfer request has been received,
> and who the receiving registrar is.  They are then given the
> opportunity to block the transfer, or to explicitly approve the
> transfer.  The transfer is approved if it is not blocked by the
> registrant.  Explicitly approving the transfer is not required, but if
> they do the transfer is ACK'd automatically, which speeds up the
> process for the registrant.
>
> The Tucows policy is an example of one that protects the registrant
> from unauthorized "slamming" but which doesn't create a prohibitively
> complicated system that is geared to keeping the customer who has
> already decided to leave, or whom has delegated that decision to their
> ISP/IPP.
>
> We urge ICANN to reject any suggestion by Verisign that ICANN enforce
> prohibitive policies on domain transfers, and to use the force of its
> contracts to mandate that Verisign not engage in these types of
> anti-competitive actions.
>
>
> Sincerely,
>
>
> William X Walsh <william@userfriendly.com>
> Owner, Userfriendly.com
> OpenSRS RSP
>
> Charles T. Smith, Jr  <Charles.Smith@ispc.org>
> Chair, ISP/C
> Internet Service Providers' Consortium
> http://www.ispc.org
>
> Matthew Gallant <business@i-dotter.com>
> Owner, I-Dotter.com
> OpenSRS RSP
>
> Brent Sims, Owner
> WebOkay Internet Services
> mailto:Brent@WebOkay.net
> http://www.WebOkay.net
>  (719) 595-1427 (Voice/Fax)
>
> Jim Larrabee <jdl@ticnet.com>
> Webland Enterprises
> OpenSRS RSP
>
> Nicholas B. Swift < nswift@dmcom.net>
> President, Digital Marketplace, Inc.
> OpenSRS RSP
>
> Marc Schneiders <Marc@Schneiders.ORG>
> Venster DNS Solutions (http://venster.nl/)
> OpenSRS RSP
>
> William Himmelstoss  <whimmel@onefingertech.com>
> Owner, One Finger Technology
> OpenSRS RSP
>
> Bill Gerrard <bill@daze.net>
> Vice President, Daze Networks, Inc.
> OpenSRS RSP
>
> Joseph Malinowski <webmaster@iwpp.com>
> Owner, Internet Web Presence Provider
> http://www.iwpp.com
> Ph: 609.893.3486
>
> Hugh Buchanan <hbuchanan@harveyopolis.com>
> President/CEO, Harveyopolis Corporation
> OpenSRS RSP
>
> Jeremy Luebke <jeremy@rockhosting.com>
> Owner - RockHosting.com
>
> Jim Jones, Jr. <jim@oct.net>
> WTC Communications, Inc. (www.wamtelco.com)
> OpenSRS RSP
>
> Ryan Brown <rbrown@tbns.net>
> Owner, TBNS.net
> OpenSRS RSP
>
> Drew Linsalata (drew@gothambus.com)
> President/CEO
> The Gotham Bus Company, Inc.
>
> Eric Longman  <webwiz@atlcon.net>
> Atl-Connect Internet Services
> OpenSRS RSP
>
> Hugh P Blair <registrar@wholesalenics.net>
> wholesalenics.net
>
> Andy Paluch <apaluch@tele-base.net>
> Owner, Tele-Base Inc.
> OpenSRS RSP
>
> Séan Flynn <sflynn@tec-man.com>
> Owner, TMS, Technology Management Services
> www.tec-man.com
> 403.678.9980
>
> Sheldon Koehler, Owner/Partner
> Ten Forward Communications
> 360-457-9023
> http://www.tenforward.com
> skoehler@tenforward.com
>
> Hossein Farmani <farmani@anet.net>
> Anet Communications
>
> Doug Renn <renn@nestegg.com>
> Owner, Nestegg, LLC
> OpenSRS RSP
>
> Eric Paynter <eric@arcticbears.com>
> Owner, Arctic Bears Computing
> http://www.arcticbears.com
>
> Peter I. Mignone <pete@pbis.net>
> President, PBIS.NET, Inc.
> 803 Broadway
> Ulster Park, NY 12487
>
> Charles T. Smith, Jr. <cts@5sc.net>
> CTO, Five Star Communications
> http://www.5sc.net
>
> Genie Livingstone <genie@magi.net>
> Operations Director
> Eyeondomain.Com
> OpenSRS RSP
>
> David Moore < dwmoar@findmoore.net>
> Owner, FindMoore.Net
>
> Phillip Beazley < pcbmls@futuresights.com>
> FutureSights.com
>
> David Dorey  <david.dorey@xsession.com>
> Director, Xsession.Com Limited
> United Kingdom.
> OpenSRS RSP
>
> Jack Broughton, <jack@ctsolutions.com>
> CanTech Solutions
> 613-549-1258
> http://www.ctsolutions.com
>
> Barbara Brasfield < barbbras@dbtech.net>
> VP, db Technology, Inc.
> http://www.dbtech.net
> OpenSRS RSP
>
> Allen Jenkins <gkins@nwol.net>
> President, NetWest Online, Inc.
>
> Darryl Lynch <dassa@dhs.org>
> CEO, DHS International
> http://www.dhsnames.com/
>
> Elise L. Smith <admin@janrix.com>
> VP of Operations
> www.janrix.com
> 910.868.8777
>
> David Harris <dharris@drh.net>
> President, DRH Internet Inc.
> http://www.drh.net/ 410-461-5316
> Web Host, OpenSRS RSP
>
> Richard Pedersen <rich@cybernet1.com>
> President Cybernet1, Inc
>
> John Blakney <blakney@vdbs.com>
> Owner, Visual Database Systems
> OpenSRS RSP
>
> Lee Gillett
> Managing Director
> UK Domains: www.ukdomains.net - UK Hosting: www.ukhosting.net
> Gillett Multimedia Ltd.: www.gmm.co.uk
>
> Kai Schätzl <maillists@conactive.com>
> Web Operations Officer
> Conactive GmbH & Co KG, Germany
>
> Beric Farmer <bfarmer@xe.com>
> XE.com
>
> William S. Lovell, PhD
> Attorney at Law
> Cerebalaw
> http://cerebalaw.com
>
> Tim Jung <tjung@igateway.net>
> President
> Internet Gateway Inc.
> St. Louis, Missouri, USA
> 636-936-8655
> http://www.igateway.net/
> OpenSRS RSP, OpenSRS Consultant
>
> Oscar Petoskey
> President
> Rocket Network Solutions
> oscar@rocketnet.net
> 248-424-9050
>
> Kirk L. Kroeker (kirk@NimbleDomain.com)
> president, NimbleDomain, Inc.
> http://NimbleDomain.com
>
> Karl E. Peters
> President & CEO Bridge International Holdings, Inc.
> CEO Atlantic Root Network, Inc.
> Tel.: (912) 638-1638
> Fax: (912) 638-1467
> E-Mail: karl.peters@bridgecompanies.com
>
> Bruce M James  bmj@keyName.net
> President / CEO / COB
> KeyNames, Inc.
> Ph: 409-781-6666
>
> Bryce Weathersby, Owner
> Weathersby Systems & Design
> http://www.weathersbysystems.com
> 409-980-4310 Phone
>
> Mike Mattox <mcm@mcmsys.com>
> Owner, MCM Systems
> www.mcmsys.com
> OpenSRS RSP
>
> Nico Morrison <nico.morrison@micronicos.com>
> Managing Director
> Micronicos Limited
> London, UK
>
> Sam Cogheil
> info@eBizs.net
> Managing Director
> E Business Services Ltd
> http://www.eBizs.net
> OpenSRS RSP
>
> Jeff Willis (jw@mis-sciences.com)
> VP Technology
> Commercial Internet Services
> MIS Sciences Corporation
> Burbank, California
> www.mis-sciences.com
>
> Colin Viebrock
> Co-Founder, easyDNS Technologies Inc.
> http://www.easydns.com/
>
> Kristopher Gilbert (ogre@videogasm.com)
> Videogasm: A Multimedia Explosion
> http://www.videogasm.com/
>
> Leah Gallegos <admin@biztld.net>
> President, AtlanticRoot Network, Inc.
> Owner, Creative CompuSec
>
> A Michael Salim
> CEO, American Data Technology, Inc.
> RTP, NC USA
> OpenSRS RSP
>
> J Scott Schiller
> VP
> GIA Web Services, Inc.
> 10575 NE 4th
> Bellevue, WA 98004
>
> Joe Morlino
> Owner, EDI Technologies
> joe@edit.com
>
> ===8<===========End of original message text===========
>
>