Hi

Skeeve Stevens <skeeve&#167;skeeve.net> has been making a vehement protest
against the charging of an additional $125 registration fee for all
.com.au domains by February 97.

I would like to support this.

In (very) early October, my ISP attempted to register my new domain - and
of course we heard nothing for some weeks. At the time I paid for my
permanent connection, this 'included domain registration and delegation
charges' - the charges that existed at the time and that was all my ISP
could allow for.

For reasons best known to the AUNIC gods, my domain was refused right at
the end of October. So my ISP re-registered BEFORE 1 November.

He now advises me that in addition to the fees I have already paid, I must
pay an additional $125 to cover the Melbourne IT charges. 

I understand completely that this is out of his hands - so guess where my
animosity is headed - not towards my ISP!

Now, $125 may well be a pittance to many .com.au domain name holders, but
it most certainly is not to a small, startup business where every cent
counts. An unexpected charge of $125 is not a pleasant surprise.  I would
imagine that there are many other organisations that feel this way also. 

At no time did I see any discussion of such charges in advance of the
event on this list (I may have missed it - I was essentially without net
access for a week in early October, but I would have thought this proposal
would have generated some discussion over time if it had been floated
here). My opinion was certainly not asked regarding the meeting held in
Sydney. I could not possibly have attended, but I would certainly have
voiced my disapproval of a re-registration charge of the kind being
levied. It was also my understanding that domains registered prior to 1
November would be handled under the old system.

I understand that Melbourne IT needs to generate some cash flow to support
its operations, but to charge everyone a reregistration fee at an
arbitrarily decided date is not, I fear, the way to go about things in
terms of generating customer satisfaction.

With .com.au domains, if you want to use one you HAVE to go to Melbourne
IT now. This is a monopoly - and I see little evidence (I may have missed
it - but I have seen none so far) that Melbourne IT has any real concern
for the end users of .com.au domains or the ISPs who provide them the
service.

My present feeling is rather more that of a cash cow that is to be milked
at every possible opportunity than that of a customer receiving a valued
service at a fair price. I can understand that ISPs would feel this way
too - with the added burden of receiving the initial irate letters and
phone calls from their customers as well.

Please could someone forward me any relevant emails to the dns list
covering the announcement of the $125 charge in advance of the event and
seeking feedback? Maybe it's time to find out what government
organisations currently monitor monopolies and their activities, pricing
and such and refer this issue to them... 

Robert Hart                                  iweft&#167;ipax.com.au
Voice: +61 (0)3 9735 3586		     http://203.29.72.65/
InterWeft, 35 Summit Road, Lilydale, Victoria 3140, Australia
        IT, data and voice networking
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