I wonder how many calls to Nominet are going to happen today..
This uproar doesn't really do favours to any group of drop-catchers.
At a time when Nominet is trying to decide how to improve the process of dropping domains, people accosting them, and all the 'he said, she said', and 'it's not fair', which they really can't be doing with... the only thing it will demonstrate is the hassle of the whole drop-catching rigmarole. Until they may get to a point where they decide, 'Why bother with this small group of [perceived] malcontents?'
There are other options on the table that would nuke drop-catching altogether, and you guys think it's a bright idea to besiege them with inter-catcher rivalries? They just don't need this. One of you might win a tactical victory (though I doubt it), and yet end up suffering far larger strategic loss.
I think Nominet would rather things just trundle on, with peace and quiet, until they decide to fix things in a way you may regret. They don't want to be expending time on investigations and intrigue into a failing model that they're going to change anyway.
Personally, yes, I think Nominet should enforce clear protocols and rules. But I don't think that's likely to happen. A point comes when they just think, why bother, and change the model altogether... for the avoidance of exactly this kind of hassle, and an exotic group of catchers (most of us) who they have little sympathy for anyway. You're arguing over a model which is almost certainly going to change. In the meanwhile, maybe: Nominet just don't care about these kind of disputes? I don't think you guys are thinking strategically at all. It's all just turf wars.
While the police are 'hands off' in the neighbourhood, go ahead, play the system and its loopholes however you choose. Keep calm and carry on. I suspect these are the last days (or at any rate months) of 'the old regime'. After that, many will look back, glass in hand, and reminisce 'the good old days'.
It has always been that way.
I remember those old days too, when good names were like fruit hanging on trees, unregistered, just waiting to be picked. Life is full of 'if onlys'. Some things change. Some remain the same. To Nominet, drop-catchers are kind of collateral damage. They just want peace and profit. Causing a rumpus does not contribute hugely to the case for keeping these processes going. Reading this thread, and not having a pony in the race (because I get domains mostly for personal use), but wishing everyone well, it just seems like turf wars to me. I think everyone should back off, cool down, and play the system in the next few months until Nominet makes changes.