Registrar Agreement

[monaghan]

Any comments on http://www.nominet.org.uk/how-parti...ussions-and-consultations/review-uk-registrar

Interesting reading in Schedule 1

5.3.6. You may, no earlier than 30 days after the expiry of a domain name on an Accredited Channel
Partner Tag,take steps to transfer the domain name into your name, provided that you have previously
informed the Registrant that you intend to do this and obtained their explicit consent to your doing so.
Even if you transfer a domain name in these circumstances, the original Registrant of the domain name
must always retain the right to renew the domain name in question as set out in paragraph 2.1.12 above;

This is interesting, you can transfer the name to yourself, but the original owner has the right to renew right up to the end of the delete cycle, this may throw a few issues with some of the T&C's of the large registrars who claim the right to sell your non-renewed domains.

 

[anthony]

Any comments on http://www.nominet.org.uk/how-parti...ussions-and-consultations/review-uk-registrar

Interesting reading in Schedule 1

"5.3.6. You may, no earlier than 30 days after the expiry of a domain name on an Accredited Channel Partner Tag,take steps to transfer the domain name into your name, provided that you have previously informed the Registrant that you intend to do this and obtained their explicit consent to your doing so. Even if you transfer a domain name in these circumstances, the original Registrant of the domain name must always retain the right to renew the domain name in question as set out in paragraph 2.1.12 above;"

This is interesting, you can transfer the name to yourself, but the original owner has the right to renew right up to the end of the delete cycle, this may throw a few issues with some of the T&C's of the large registrars who claim the right to sell your non-renewed domains.

What a fucking joke, this isn't the .com arena!

 

[Lucien Taylor]

Revisions to 2.1.12 are:

2.1.12. issue a renewalreminder to your customer at least 30 days prior to expiry of the domain. Except as
set out in paragraph 5.3.6, you must not make any changes to the , we may suspend or cancel that
registration data of a domain name without our permission during the period between the expiry of a
domain name and its deletion. You must always allow a Registrant to renew a domain name (and maintain
the registration in their own name) at any point up to the point at which we would otherwise have
cancelled and deleted that domain name;.

 

[Edwin]

Becoming more .com-like, but still provides a bucketload more protection to registrants than in .com, where some registrars pinch names for themselves almost immediately after they expire...

 

[Edwin]

Phew. Just finished wading through the whole document (marked up "changes" version) and accompanying notes.

Some good stuff in the revised agreement. For example, much stronger language surrounding the obligations of Registrars (no longer any wishy-washy idea that things may be "good practice" - it's now explicitly clear that they HAVE to do certain things)

They've strengthened the requirement to declare linked interests:

7.2. We aim to provide our services in a neutral and impartial way, and we have obligations to protect the
information on the Register. We may require that you declare in advance of any investigation by us into
any breach of this Contract or the Policies any connections you have with another Registrar or relevant
party that has a contract with us

This next clause is positive, should stop a lot of abuse by web hosting firms, ad agencies etc. I like the fact that the consent has to be both "explicit" AND "prior" i.e. can't be sought retroactively after the domain has already been registered:

2.1.7. only register a domain name in the name of your customer unless you (or your reseller) have your
customer’s explicit prior consent to register it in a different name (such as your name, your organisation’s
name or your reseller’s name)

This is completely unambiguous, and much better than the wild west .com world...

2.1.12. issue a renewal reminder to your customer at least 30 days prior to expiry of the domain. Except as
set out in paragraph 5.3.6, you must not make any changes to the registration data of a domain name without our permission during the period between the expiry of a
domain name and its deletion. You must always allow a Registrant to renew a domain name (and maintain
the registration in their own name) at any point up to the point at which we would otherwise have
cancelled and deleted that domain name;

They're also generous with the Self-managed tag in that they are allowing for a small number of names to be in the names of third parties. That's handy when you make the occasional sale and the buyer forgets to change tag for a while. The limit in this case ("no more than the lower of: a) fifty or b) 5% of the total domains registered under your Self Managed Tag") looks manageable. Better than the current situation where in theory you're in breach of the Agreement if even 1 domain is registered to a third party.

Plus self-managed tag holders can transfer domains free of charge, rather than paying the £10+VAT fee. Another nice touch if you're in the resale business.

The big change, which has already been touched on, is this:

5.3.6. You may, no earlier than 30 days after the expiry of a domain name on an Accredited Channel
Partner Tag, take steps to transfer the domain name into your name, provided that you have previously
informed the Registrant that you intend to do this and obtained their explicit consent to your doing so.
Even if you transfer a domain name in these circumstances, the original Registrant of the domain name
must always retain the right to renew the domain name in question as set out in paragraph 2.1.12 above;

However, given the protection in 2.1.12 and again in 5.3.6 putting significantly more emphasis on both the notification process and on obtaining explicit consent, this doesn't strike me to be outrageous given that the domain can still be renewed right up until deletion. It is the one practice that has been common in TLD for years (in .com probably for the better part of a decade) but not in the UK namespace.

Lastly, it's great to see an explicit "Sanctions Policy" - now, Nominet has real teeth to go after breaches in contract.

All in all, it looks like a positive improvement on the old Agreement. Reads much more clearly, with far fewer instances of vague language that could be twisted and turned to say "I didn't realise that's what it meant" and with explicitly stated protection for registrants enshrined in the body of the contract.

 

[Stephen]

New Registrar Agreement

Phew. Just finished wading through the whole document (marked up "changes" version) and accompanying notes.

Some good stuff in the revised agreement. For example, much stronger language surrounding the obligations of Registrars (no longer any wishy-washy idea that things may be "good practice" - it's now explicitly clear that they HAVE to do certain things).......

Thank you.

Regarding the ability of registrars to hold on to domains after they expire.

Does this mean an end to drop catching in the UK namespace?

If so, do you please know what the logic of letting the registrars hold on to them?

 

[Edwin]

Thank you.

Regarding the ability of registrars to hold on to domains after they expire.

Does this mean an end to drop catching in the UK namespace?

If so, do you please know what the logic of letting the registrars hold on to them?

I guess it depends if ALL registrars decide to hold ALL domains. They don't get to keep them free of charge, so I presume they will just pick and choose the good stuff.

Logic? I guess because it's common practice in the TLD world and I expect Nominet had a lot of registrars requesting it.

The way Nominet is implementing it is MUCH stricter and more registrant-friendly than in the TLD case. Nominet is ensuring that registrants have the absolute maximum "grace period" during which they can still renew the domain and keep it.

Here's what the notes say about it:

Similarly, Accredited Channel Partner Tag users will have the ability to transfer a domain name
into their own name during the expiry period if they have the explicit prior consent of the
Registrant and subject to reminder notifications having been sent. Even so, Registrants must
always be able to renew their domain name at any time up until the point where we would have
otherwise cancelled the registration. This change implements the Board’s decision regarding the
recommendations arising from the issue group’s policy discussions on domain expiry, while
recognising the higher standards required of Accredited Channel Partner Tag users.

So to even be able to do it at all, a registrar would have to first obtain "Accredited Channel Partner" status, which is a much higher hurdle than a run-of-the-mill Channel Partner. They would also have to let registrants know, in advance, what will happen, alert them to renewal deadlines, and process their renewals right up to the final moment before deletion. So the layers of safeguards are numerous.

 

[Edwin]

Note: the new contract is also much stricter about forcing registrars to communicate better, so registrants should be very well away of the need to renew domains (no more getting away with not sending renewal notices in a timely fashion, for example).

 

[blacknight]

While the overall document might be an improvement in spirit there are several areas in it where the wording is confusing or ambiguous.
There are also several areas where it's not at all clear what they're trying to do.

Also, the lack of an editable version of the text makes marking it up rather awkward *sigh*

 

[Stephen]

I guess it depends if ALL registrars decide to hold ALL domains. They don't get to keep them free of charge, so I presume they will just pick and choose the good stuff.

Logic? I guess because it's common practice in the TLD world and I expect Nominet had a lot of registrars requesting it.......

Thank you as always for your effort and providing your insight.

 

[monaghan]

Thank you.

Regarding the ability of registrars to hold on to domains after they expire.

Does this mean an end to drop catching in the UK namespace?

If so, do you please know what the logic of letting the registrars hold on to them?

The big registrars already have their T&C's to allow for them to grab non-renewed domains (an example - http://www.123-reg.co.uk/terms/expired-domains-terms.shtml), I guess this is a way of ensuring fair play - we had extensive discussion of this sort of thing on the domain expiry policy meetings and no real conclusion.

Whether the "big boys" will assign a member of staff to cherry picking the best non-renewed domains on their register is unclear, but with the new rules they will now have the risk that if they sell on a domain before the drop date they could have to hand it back on day 89 if the original registrant wants to renew. No doubt the lawyers will craft a revised registration agreement to allow them to delegate responsibility and grab what they want anyway.

Not everybody will run this way, but it does seem to be moving more towards the .com way of doing things.

 

[Edwin]

The big registrars already have their T&C's to allow for them to grab non-renewed domains (an example - http://www.123-reg.co.uk/terms/expired-domains-terms.shtml), I guess this is a way of ensuring fair play - we had extensive discussion of this sort of thing on the domain expiry policy meetings and no real conclusion.

Whether the "big boys" will assign a member of staff to cherry picking the best non-renewed domains on their register is unclear, but with the new rules they will now have the risk that if they sell on a domain before the drop date they could have to hand it back on day 89 if the original registrant wants to renew. No doubt the lawyers will craft a revised registration agreement to allow them to delegate responsibility and grab what they want anyway.

Not everybody will run this way, but it does seem to be moving more towards the .com way of doing things.

You're quite right. The revised Agreement is substantially more registrant-friendly than 123-reg's existing contract with registrants (and Nominet's will take precedence, because 123-reg MUST adhere to it if they want to remain a registrar). So, although it's the first time such language has been "in the spotlight" in this way, it's actually a practice that has been going on piecemeal for ages (different rules conflicting all over the place, in most cases much worse than Nominet's version) so it's good to see a clear stance on this issue.

 

[Stephen]

Didn't the expiration consultation only deal with everything up until the moment of the deletion of a domain name rather than what could/should/would be done with a domain name after Nominet would plan to hit delete?

I've previously proposed that all domain names due to drop went to a Nominet managed, or single third party overseen by Nominet, auction with domain names attracting no bids dropping as normal but after. The losing registrar might receive some limited compensation but they wouldn't be entitled to squirrel the domain name away for themselves, or to sell it, keeping all of the profits. I intend to revoice this as a response to the registrar consultation and link it to the previous expiration consultation as well.

(from iPhone)

I requested that Nominet set up a system wherby interested Trademark holders, limited companies with that name, people trading with that name etc could register, that if the domain name dropped they could have it.

After so much fuss about trademark holders and rights in version 1 of .uk proposal, I was suprised that Nolminet never took up the idea?

Maybe there was another reason they wanted trademark holders involved rather than doing what is right!

I know the idea would not have been popular with drop catchers, but if nominet policed it properly it would not have effected quality generic catches.

 

[Edwin]

I know the idea would not have been popular with drop catchers, but if nominet policed it properly it would not have effected quality generic catches.

Of course it would. If V1 (well, the response to V1) taught us anything, it's that most every commercial generic term already has trademarks attached to it - usually multiple trademarks. See this document, for example...
http://www.mydomainnames.co.uk/exampletmissues.pdf

It would have been a giant can of worms that Nominet would have got completely bogged down in. No surprise at all that you didn't get any traction for the idea.