Kim Davies wrote:
> 
> For the thousands of domain holders who have already paid for their
> domains to Melbourne IT under threat of the understood removal on March
> 17, will they have the option of requesting their license not take effect
> until the 8th of October 1997?
> 
> Further, should a competitor begin before this time, will domain holders
> have the option of a full refund of their monies (minus reasonable
> administrative cost)?
> 
On 23 January 1997, I notified the dns mailing list of Melbourne IT's
new pro rata reimbursement policy for 'historical' domain names, as
follows:

"2. Allowance for Migration of Historical DNs

"All historical DNs - like other DNs - will need to be renewed with
payment by 17 March 1997, to avoid being deleted from the com.au Zone
Files, as part of the current validation and updating of the com.au DNS.
However Melbourne IT makes a commitment that upon the legal
accreditation of a competitor DNA for com.au, the administrative
contacts for historical DNs may transfer their DNs to the competitor's
Zone Files and receive a reimbursement of their Renewal Fee.  This
reimbursement will consist of a pro-rata reimbursement, based upon the
months remaining in the renewal license, minus a small administrative
fee ($25). This commitment is contingent
upon reciprocity between DNAs i.e. the competitor DNA will need to
institute an equivalent, reciprocal policy for migration of DNs.

"This means that if a historical DN is renewed for two years in February
1997 for $125, and requests transfer to a competitor DNA in May 1997,
its administrative contact will receive reimbursement of $(125 x 21/24)
- $25 = $74.40c. (If the competitor DNA charges less than this pro rata
for the remaining 21 months, the DN licensee can gain a net refund.)"

This policy applies to, and aplies only to, historical com.au domain
names (i.e. those already allocated by 8 October 1996) and for which
renewal payments were made to Melbourne IT from 1 November 1996 to the
17 March 1997 deadline. The pro rata reimbursement calculation does not
include the effect of the extra six months free extensions to these
renewal licences announced in my message to the mailing lists on 16
March.  

My statement on 16 March announced that from 17 March an alternative
no-fee/no-service option would be available for historical domain names,
expiring on 1 November 1997. Now that this no-cost option is available
as an alternative to the $125 renewal fee-for-service, there is
logically no need to extend the principle of pro rata reimbursement to
domain names renewed after 17 March 1997, and the original offer has now
expired. 

It will be appropriate for the new Australian Domain Name Authority
(ADNA) to develop policies for "churn" and "domain name portability"
between competing Domain Name authorities. Melbourne IT will support any
ADNA policies in this area that are reciprocal, reasonable and fair.

Regards
PG
-- 
Professor Peter Gerrand
CEO, Melbourne IT

-----------------------------------------
1947-1997 Celebrating 50 Years of the Electrical & Electronics 
Engineering Department at the University of Melbourne