DNC Newsletter - October 2002
DNC
SRS Implementation
The SRS implementation over the weekend of 12 October went according to plan. At 1am on Monday 14 October, responsibility for operating the .nz register transferred from Domainz across to NZRS. Domainz is the Stabilising Registrar on the SRS and, until other authorised registrars can connect from 7 December 2002, they are the sole registrar.
As Domainz is the only registrar, the information in the DRS continues to match that on the register. As part of the SRS implementation risk management, it was planned that the DRS would remain as a 'fall back' option until the first competitive registrar had connected to the SRS. As part of this contingency, the DRS continues to produce a zone file twice a day, but this file is not pushed to the DNS. This means that until 7 December the DRS will continue to be unavailable during the zone build periods twice a day. Please note that there is no down time on the SRS while the zone files are being prepared and pushed to the DNS.
Registrars
Eight applications for authorisation as a registrar had been received by the DNC as at 31 October. The first registrars will be authorised by mid-November.
Prospective registrars are reminded that for this initial period prior to December 2002, organisations are able to apply for Connection to the SRS test system at the same time as they apply to the DNC for authorisation. From December, organisations will need to be authorised registrars before they can apply to NZRS to connect.
Mass targeted mailing campaign
DomainNamesNZ has recently undertaken a mass marketing campaign for domain name registrations in the .net.nz domain. They targeted registrants of .co.nz domain names encouraging them to also register their name in the .net.nz domain. DomainNamesNZ offered a two year registration for $198.
The DNC complained to DomainNamesNZ that their letter to registrants was misleading as it offered something that was not yet available in New Zealand - namely a two-year registration. While Domainz is the only registrar on the SRS, only a one year term of registration is possible.
DomainNamesNZ stated that the two-year offer was an inadvertent error on their part and have undertaken not to accept any requests for a two-year registration and also to remove that option from their website. If anyone hears of a registrant being offered a longer term by DomainNamesNZ, or any other organisation, please let the DNC know.
The incident with DomainNamesNZ also highlights another matter. Under clause 3.9 of the .nz Roles and Responsibilities policy, a targeted marketing campaign of the type undertaken is not permitted in the .nz environment. Under the SRS registrars are responsible for all activities through their SRS connection. If it can be shown that an authorised registrar knowingly permitted any action that is a breach of the .nz policies and procedures, even if they didn't do it themselves, then they may be subject to sanctions.
Welcome
The DNC is pleased to welcome Chris Wild to the DNC Office as Senior Support Analyst, replacing Beverley Irvine. Chris has just returned from living in England where he worked for Nominet UK, the .uk registry. Chris' industry knowledge will be of great value to the Office of the DNC.
NZRS
The first half of the month was focused on the preparation for the go live of the SRS. On the weekend of 12-14 October the SRS was populated from the DRS and the system went live on schedule at 1am on 14 October.
Now that the SRS is the register and fully operational, the Zone file transfers are being taken from the SRS. The WHOIS is available at whois.srs.net.nz for those who wish to connect their WHOIS application.
Performance of the system has been within the parameters that were set, however close monitoring of performance is being done and tuning continues. In addition, the SRS has proved to be reliable with no unscheduled outages since go live.
A number of registrars have made applications for connection to the SRS. Their applications have been processed and they are now connected to the Test SRS system. The SRS test system is slightly different from the production system in that the grace period is set to 1 day to assist in testing.
Since the RIK was published, NZRS have been working on defining standards and processes for the registry. These have been, and will continue to be, published at www.nzrs.net.nz In addition, there are two further formas that are required to be forward to the registry - these being the Registrar Details, REGDET, and the NZRS Direct Debit form.
Prior to 7 December there will be a SRS Work Request / Fault tracking system in place and also a FAQ section on the NZRS webpage for registrars.
Any comments?
If you have any questions or concerns about the SRS, please don't hesitate to contact us. For registry or technical matters, contact Nick Griffin at [email protected]. For all other matters, contact Debbie Monahan at [email protected]
Please note
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