An examination of the Registry/Registrar/Registrant Relationship in the CO.ZA Zone.

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• An examination of the Registry/Registrar/Registran
  t Relationship in the CO.ZA Zone.
• Calvin Browne
• UniForum SA
• CO.ZA Registry

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CO.ZA Registry/Registrar/Registrant

• What is a Registry
• What is a Registrar
• What is a Registrant
• Examine mistakes
• What we do right
• How you might want to do it
• Conclusion

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A bit about CO.ZA

• As at July 2005
• 190000 Registrations (Medium sized?)
• Been the Registry since 1995
• Inherited 400 registrations
• Non-profit
• Has been (and still is) responsible for policy
• Is a delegated sub-zone of .ZA

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What is a Registry?

• Publishes a zone
• Publisher of 'whois'
• Is a natural monopoly

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What can a Registry be?

• Can be a Registrar
• Can do DRP
• Can do ISP stuff
• Can do lots of stuff is should maybe not

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What is a Registrar?

• Interfaces with a Registry/many Registries.
• Interfaces with a Registrant/many Registrants.

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What can a Registrar be?

• Registry.
• Value added provider.
• ISP
• Web hosting
• Multiple registries
• etc etc

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What is a Registrant?

• Person (natural or legal) who is listed as the
  Registrant in 'whois'
• Person (natural or legal) who can compel domain
  resolution service from registry

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In CO.ZA, no Registrar Accreditation

• only technical constraints
• keeps entry level low
• increases competition
• consumer (registrant) less protected
• Registrar acts as agent for Registrant
• direct legal relationship between the Registry
  and Registrant

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In CO.ZA, registration before payment

• makes cyber-squatting less expensive
• allows 'fly by night' registrars
• affects income and creates admin
• allows 'anonymous' registrations
• Don't try this at home
• either get payment upfront
• or have accounts/credit control

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In CO.ZA (ZA) no DRP

• This is bad in a slow legal system (and most are)
• Have had a DRP on my desk since 2001
  legislative process meant introduction
  problematic
• Leads to litigation

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In CO.ZA no published API

• makes interaction with Registry less certain
• simple e-mail interface
• published API makes life simpler

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In CO.ZA we do

• Redemption Grace Period (ie suspend before
  deletion)
• Have a good set of terms and conditions
• Fast and efficient
• Try and learn from other registries

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Conclusion

• My advice API
• There is no absolutely right or wrong way
• Be responsive to community (but keep stuff stable)

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• Questions?