Chuck,
To
make a decision, I think we need to know the details of the process in more
detail.
When
are we charged the $6?
Would renewals purchased during the 45-day RGP cost
$6/year as today?
Is
this the proposed process:
1)
Name expires (and the name is renewed automatically as it is
today,
but
the registrar is not charged $6 at this time)
2)
If a registrar does not explicitly renew the name (add
years),
then
15 days before the end of the 45-day period (or 30 days after it
expires),
the
name is removed from the zone (put on Registrar Hold).
3)
45-days after expiration, if the name is not explicitly renewed, the name is
auto-deleted
(put
in the delete cycle)
Whenever the registar renews a name, the registar is
charged $6 at that time.
If
that is the proposal, I am all for it.
Would the delete apply to *all* names not explicitly
renewed?
specifically, names that are currently more than
45-days past expiration?
I
assume verisign thinks this will increase renewals and therefore be of benefit
to verisign.
I
would agree with that and add that it would benefit registrars
too.
looks like a win-win to me.
finally.
Paul
Mike/Tim,
Based on a variety of requests from registrars, we
have been carefully exploring this issue for the past couple months.
Mike - your assessment is incorrect. We would actually like to go to an
explicit renew/auto delete approach. But I personally have been arguing
against it because I thought that this would create a bad situation for
registrars. A week ago I actually discussed this was Elliot and he was
very supportive. What would help us is to get a broader perspective of
all registrars views on this as soon as possible. Anything you can do to
make that happen would be greatly appreciated.
Specifically, what would be helpful is to know
whether registrars would support a requirement that registrars MUST explicitly
renew a name in the renew grace period. If a name was not explicitly
renewed, it would automatically go into the delete cycle (including the RGP
period in the future).
A
related idea that Elliot suggested is this: for some to-be-determined period
at the end of the renew grace period (e.g., last 15 days), all names not
explicitly renewed must be put on Registrar Hold. The purpose would be to use
that as a last warning to registrants that their name was in
jeopardy.
Chuck
Thanks Tim,
This helped a lot in clearing up my perceived
misunderstanding. However, if you read my most recent post, Pandora's Box, I
believe VeriSign is likely to just say no. Based upon the huge sums of money
that VeriSign Registry is sitting on, I just do not see them being
magnanimous. If we were to try to mandate an ICANN policy, I would bet the
house VeriSign Registry is likely to say that they relied upon this float in
arriving at their $6 dollar price. Thus if payment terms were changed by
ICANN policy, VeriSign Registry could request a fee
increase.
As
I stated hopefully I am wrong, and Chuck Gomes will send me an email telling
me VeriSign Registry will agree to waive the fees during the 45 day grace
period (I copied him on this email). However, I would not hold my breath
believing that VeriSign Registry is just going to throw a huge financial
bone to us registrars.
Mike
Michael,
If I understand this
all correctly, what Eliot and Bruce are suggesting is that the 45 day
grace period stays in tact, during which the domain is not yet made
available for registration, but the registrar is not yet charged anything.
If the registrar does not explicitly renew the domain before the 45 days
are up it is released. The registrar is only charged when/if the explicit
renewal takes place.
If that's what we're talking about
then I don't see what the problem is, especially once the Redemption
Grace Period is in place. We've been watching the float we need growing
month by month and we haven't even gotten to our first 2 year
renewals.
Tim
-------- Original Message
--------
Subject: RE: [registrars] Auto-Renew v. Auto-Delete
From:
"Michael D. Palage" <michael@palage.com>
Date: Thu, September 5,
2002 10:43 pm
To: <registrars@dnso.org>
Elliot:
I
did think about the words "grace period". However, the first
thought
that came to my mind is ADDITIONAL FEES. The grace period is
not going
to be free, in fact it is likely to be set at a highly level
to
protect against potential abuse. Therefore, why should I have to
pay
additional fees for a redemption grace period renewal or
feel
compelled to purchase a WLS subscription as insurance, when I
can
chose to use a registrar that utilizes the 45 days grace period.
This
is an important feature that I would use in selecting a
registrar.
The change you seek in payment policy is totally within
your control
today, by just deleting the domain name after the
auto-renewal.
A little help from another registrar would be greatly
appreciated
because I feel that I am missing something
here.
Mike
-----Original Message-----
From: Elliot Noss
[mailto:enoss@tucows.com]
Sent: Friday, September 06, 2002 1:09
AM
To: 'Michael D. Palage'; registrars@dnso.org
Subject: RE:
[registrars] Auto-Renew v. Auto-Delete
Michael:
Both the
renewal grace period and the redemption grace period would
have
protected you in your case. The issue, again, is with the
registry
charging us presumptively during this grace period.
Think about the
words "grace period". Clearly they connote a period of
grace given to
the existing registrant on the existing term of
registration. These
grace periods are appropriate and the ONLY issue
is when the registry
charges registrars for a renewal. Clearly, this
should be when an
actual renewal takes place.
The only thing I am advocating for is a
change in payment policy. Full
stop.
And now, to
bed.
Regards
-----Original Message-----
From:
owner-registrars@dnso.org [mailto:owner-registrars@dnso.org] On
Behalf
Of Michael D. Palage
Sent: Friday, September 06, 2002 12:13 AM
To:
registrars@dnso.org
Subject: [registrars] Auto-Renew v.
Auto-Delete
Elliot/Bruce:
Wearing my registrant hat. I would
have lost palage.com if the
auto-delete
policy as you advocate was
in place. Despite my attempts to correct
and transfer my domain name,
it was not done in a timely fashion due
to complication by my registrar
of record. The 45 day window probably
saved my
a significant amount
of grief.
Wearing my registrar hat. The ability to control your
float is totally
within in your discretion since you can delete the
domain name at
expiration. I know that several registrars with
corporate clients use
this
45 day window to verify the customers
intent and minimize potential
liability. As a large scale registrar,
the potential risks/liabilities
associated with a 45 day float in
connection with a million plus names
is
considerable, and may
outweigh the benefits of accidental deletions.
However, the risk
benefit analysis may not be the same for a small to
mid-size registrar
with a small portfolio.
Regarding, Bruce's concern about an uniform
delete policy. I believe
this is
an important objective but not one
that subject registrars to
potential legal liability by having an
auto-delete policy. I think
there should be other potential solutions
to an uniform delete
policy.
Mike
-----Original
Message-----
From: owner-registrars@dnso.org
[mailto:owner-registrars@dnso.org]On
Behalf Of Bruce Tonkin
Sent:
Thursday, September 05, 2002 11:38 PM
To: 'Elliot Noss'; Rob Hall;
David Wascher
Cc: registrars@dnso.org
Subject: RE: [registrars] Re:
Registrars Collecting on
Multi-Year
Registrations
>
>
> We need all
remember that we are currently pushing the
> Verisign registry
to
> change the auto-renew policy to an auto-delete/explicit
renew
> which would
> free up significant dollars for all of
us that currently gets
> tied up in
> maintaining an
unnecessarily high float with the registry.
>
Melbourne IT
supports this principle. It also has the benefit of
better uniformity
in delete procedures.
It is used in the new ".au"
registry.
Regards,
Bruce
Tonkin