MelbIT rolls out auto renew by default

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As most of us know, they have let many premium names drop over the years!

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Auto Renewal - Continuous domain name protection from your competition

http://new.melbourneit.com.au/promo/auto-domain-name-renewal-v1/

Dear Customer,

This is an automated response. Replies to this address will not be received.

We’re pleased to announce that we have made some updates to the agreements and policies listed below. These updates provide Melbourne IT’s customers with superior domain name protection by providing for domain name(s) to be automatically renewed before expiry.

These changes are effective as of 7th of April 2013. We will notify you via email when auto renewal for your domain name(s) has been enabled.

What are the changes?

The main change to the terms and conditions of certain Domain Name Registration Agreements and our Private Registration Service Agreement is to reflect our updated auto renewal processes, as set out in detail in our new Renewal Policy.

Our updated auto renewal processes help to safeguard your online business identity by automatically renewing your domain name(s) and where applicable, our Private Registration Service for that domain prior to expiry via your current valid credit card to prevent your domain name(s) becoming available on the open market and potentially being registered by a competitor or third party.

Who do the changes affect?

The updated auto renewal process will apply to all customers with eligible domain names, as outlined in detail in our Renewal Policy, which we recommend you review.

If you have a .com, .net, .org, .biz, .info, .mobi, .asia, .co, .nz (excluding .kiwi.nz), .us, .co.uk or .au domain name with Melbourne IT, then these updates will apply to you.

Of course, once the auto renewal feature has been enabled, any customers who prefer to manually renew their domain name(s) can simply disable auto renewal for any particular domain name(s) via their MyAccount.

Where can I see the details of the changes?

The full details of these updates to the terms and conditions are published on our website, and can be located as follows:

•.com, .net, .org, .biz, .info, .mobi Domain Names - See section 6 of the gTLD Domain Name Registration Agreement.
• .au Domain Names See updated section 4 of the .au Domain Name Registration Agreement.
• .asia and .co.uk Domain Names - See updated section 9of the ccTLD Domain Name Management Agreement. (Note: ccTLD’s continue to also be subject to the applicable listed ccTLD specific policies).
• .co Domain Names - See updated section 3 of the .co Domain Name Registration Agreement.
•.nz (excluding .kiwi.nz) Domain Names - See updated section 5.2(e)(iii) of the .nz Domain Name Registration Agreement.
• .us Domain Names - See updated section 3 of the .us Domain Name Registration Agreement.
• Private Registration Service - See updated section 7.4 of the My Private Registration Terms and Conditions.

You can always access the latest terms and conditions and policy updates at any time by clicking on our Policies page.

We have also setup an Auto Renewal Hub with additional information, should you have any queries or wish to understand these changes further.

Thank you for using Melbourne IT products and services.

Best Regards,

The Melbourne IT team

 

[DavidL]

So they are applying this on all existing domains? What will happen to the tens of thousands of people who want to let a domain lapse each year? Won't there be mayhem when it's renewed and their CC is hit for another $140?

Surely you can't change a one-off agreement to pay a company something into a recurring billing retrospectively.

I suppose they renew it then continue to try and charge the customer, then let it drop and cop the $18.40 reg fee if there's no response.

If so, what happens when another hardware.com.au or marketing.com.au expires and they still can't contact the owner...?

 

[snoopy]

Good news for registrants, bad news for drop houses.

 

[smee]

Good news for registrants, bad news for drop houses.

Bad news for domainers.

 

[petermeadit]

Could this be used to get dibs on domains before they drop?

Or, what is the purpose of this?


Sent from my HTC One X using DNTrade mobile app

 

[snoopy]

Or, what is the purpose of this?

-To reduce accidental drops.
-To increase renewal rates.

 

[Chris.C]

-To reduce accidental drops.
-To increase renewal rates.

From melbourneIT's perspective more the latter than the former...



This will make them even bigger cashcows!



And I agree with Snoopy's other comment of this doesn't bode well for expiry auctions.

Does anyone know what percentage market share MelbIT has of the AU domain market?

 

[CyberClick]

Surprised registrars didn't do this long ago. As a domain owner I prefer expire by choice.

Drop providers will really need to up the ante on their aftermarket sales and auctions. NF has a good head start here, the others will have to come up with new strategies to draw back market share.

 

[snoopy]

Does anyone know what percentage market share MelbIT has of the AU domain market?

I would guess the lions share of better names would be with them, particular lax corporates and people with a few high quality domains.

 

[AnthonyP]

14.5%

Apparently you will need to have an active credit card for this to work. I wonder how many people who forget about their domain renewals have still got active credit cards in the system after 2 years?

What do you imagine is going to happen when they renew a domain name for a de-registered company?

 

[CyberClick]

What do you imagine is going to happen when they renew a domain name for a de-registered company?

Isn't this the same issue where people have selected auto-renew? Could the introduce a pre-pay service and issue refunds when things go wrong? This would allow them to hold twice as much cash as they typically would for a domain.

MelbIT customers would probably even pay more for such a service:

Eg; renewal service is charged at 150% of normal review rate, which covers checks/balances, etc then the domain renewal itself is FREE.

 

[AnthonyP]

Isn't this the same issue where people have selected auto-renew? Could the introduce a pre-pay service and issue refunds when things go wrong? This would allow them to hold twice as much cash as they typically would for a domain.

If a registrant selects auto-renew then they are making that choice themselves, even if a registrar had a system wide policy in place on sign up then a registrant is making that choice so the registrar is not responsible.

In this case the registrar is making a retroactive choice for the user and they are probably not factoring in the auDA requirement for the registrant to warrant that the eligibility details are correct at the time of renewal.

I think it would be pretty complicated if they wanted to hold funds in trust for future renewals, how would they handle the transfer out of a domain name?

 

[Chris.C]

Drop providers will really need to up the ante on their aftermarket sales and auctions.

Mainstream people/businesses were bound to work out that good domains hold substantial and strategic value over time and that you shouldn't just let them expire. Whether the better domain management comes through auto renewals or businesses just managing their domains better it was always an inevitable progression.

And I think we can all agree that the quality of expiring domains has been on the decline for awhile now and this has been happening even without companies like MelbIT making domains auto-renew.

14.5%

That's a pretty big chunk out of the number of domains that will expire.

Apparently you will need to have an active credit card for this to work. I wonder how many people who forget about their domain renewals have still got active credit cards in the system after 2 years?

Yeah I have often thought the same thing with domains that I have auto renew on, given my CC expires in 2014 so if I forget to update my card details with the domain registrars the auto renew is worth naught.

What do you imagine is going to happen when they renew a domain name for a de-registered company?

That's a very small price to pay to for getting to auto renew the 99% of other domain holders at $140...

 

[DavidL]

Am I the only one who sees a problem with this from the client's side?

For me, personally, if I pay for something that is not, at the time of payment, a recurring payment, I'd be very unhappy if it retrospectively turned into a recurring payment - regardless of any email or notification that has been sent.

 

[Ashman]

-To reduce accidental drops.
-To increase renewal rates.

To increase renewal rates disguised as reducing accidental drops leading to more revenue for MelbourneIT.

 

[johno69]

Am I the only one who sees a problem with this from the client's side?

No.

 

[Chris.C]

Am I the only one who sees a problem with this from the client's side?

I definitely see the problem.

And whilst I don't know what percentage of domains with MelbIT are renewed year, but I'd surprised if it wasn't 90%+, and in light of this the VAST majority of customers wouldn't even notice and may even appreciate it being applied retrospectively.

And for the small percentage that DO CARE they are unlikely to kick up a stink over $140 or will likely blame themselves.

So the way I see it is even if they apply retrospectively, their upside is large, their downside is small, so their ethics will likely reflect that.

Or maybe they will email everyone offering them to "opt out" of which most will ignore, but making it a little less "dodgy".

 

[Cooper Mills DomainLawyer]

Good news for registrants, bad news for drop houses.

True

 

[snoopy]

Am I the only one who sees a problem with this from the client's side?

For me, personally, if I pay for something that is not, at the time of payment, a recurring payment, I'd be very unhappy if it retrospectively turned into a recurring payment - regardless of any email or notification that has been sent.

David, you see a problem with this from your own side, as part of owner of the largest drop catching service.

 

[snoopy]

To increase renewal rates disguised as reducing accidental drops leading to more revenue for MelbourneIT.

Of course it is about revenue for MelbourneIT, they aren't a charity and any decision will always be about money (ditto for any business), but the effect is a lot less accidental drops in my view.