RE: [registrars] PersonalNames.com

[Paul Westley <paul@internetters.co.uk>]

I just spoke to Personal Names and it appears that they have indeed
become an ICANN-accredited Registrar in their own right. My concern is
that their close association with GNR Registry will give them an enhanced
position in the eyes of potential registrants and is likely to work
counter to the interests of fair competition. 

It is clearly anti-competitive to state on the website
"This gives Personal Names Limited a unique
desire to serve customers better than any other .name provider in the
marketplace." On what basis can they make this claim? Is it
because they are a subsidiary of GNR. I can imagine the reaction if
Network Solutions were to claim that as a Verisign subsidiary they
"could serve customers better than any other .com provider in the
marketplace."

Paul Westley
Internetters

At 17:07 28/01/03, Elana Broitman wrote:

Dear Fran - The registrant constituency is very concerned about the apparent new direct channel launched by GNR.  We request that you urgently hold a conference call with the constituency prior to Feb.1 in order to brief us on this development
 
Regards,
 

Elana Broitman
Register.com
575 Eighth Avenue
New York, NY 10018
Phone (212) 798-9215
Fax   (212) 244-9589
ebroitman@register.com

-----Original Message-----

From: Rob Hall [mailto:rob@momentous.com]

Sent: Tuesday, January 28, 2003 11:51 AM

To: Elana Broitman; Registrars Mail List

Subject: RE: [registrars] PersonalNames.com

I concur, especially in light of the statement on their website:

 

"Personal Names Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Global Name Registry Limited, the Internet Registry for the .name Top-Level-Domain, accredited by ICANN. This gives Personal Names Limited a unique desire to serve customers better than any other .name provider in the marketplace."

 

It would seem to imply that because GNR is accredited by ICANN, that Personal Names is as well (or at least, it is very cleverly and confusingly worded).

 

Rob.

-----Original Message-----

From: Elana Broitman [mailto:ebroitman@register.com]

Sent: Tuesday, January 28, 2003 11:42 AM

To: 'Rob Hall'; Registrars Mail List

Subject: RE: [registrars] PersonalNames.com

Rob - this is, indeed, very disturbing.  Since they don't launch for a week, our ExCom should ask on an emergency basis for .name to hold a call with registrars to explain the situation.  don't you think?  We should have Dan Halloran involved.

-----Original Message-----

From: Rob Hall [mailto:rob@momentous.com]

Sent: Tuesday, January 28, 2003 11:39 AM

To: Registrars Mail List

Subject: [registrars] PersonalNames.com

It seems that the Global Name Registry has decided to start selling domains to end users directly.

Check out www.personalnames.com .

I don't see them on the ICANN accredited registrars list, but that could just not have been updated yet.  I trust they won't just be bypassing the process.

I also note that they claim they won't be publishing any of the "personal details" of a user in the whois.   I hope they aren't bypassing any rules that the rest of us must follow.

From the site

NOTE ON "WHOIS" SERVICE:

Personal Names is committed to protecting your privacy in the Whois service. Therefore, none of your personal details will be published in the .name Whois service. You can put your own, personal details in the Whois service if you wish. To do this, please contact customer service who will love to be of assistance.

All in all, I think this is something we may want to look into more.  When a Registry simply starts bypassing Registrars, I have great concerns.

Rob.