WebAfrica using dodgy practices when registering domain names

[deweyzeph]

It's come to my attention that WebAfrica is putting their own email address ([email protected]) as the registrants email address when registering domain names on behalf of their clients. Not only does this go against Uniforum's terms and conditions, but it also makes it almost impossible to transfer a domain away from them without their consent. This is highly unethical, would anyone from WebAfrica care to comment?

The only email address that should be registered as the registrant's email address for a domain is the email address of the owner of the domain.

 

[DrJohnZoidberg]

That is quite odd. I just checked a domain I have registered with WA and it also is registered to [email protected]. All my Afrihost registered domains have my e-mail address in that field.

 

[deweyzeph]

I am currently in the process of reporting them to Uniforum.

 

[DrJohnZoidberg]

Where exactly does it say that this is against the terms and conditions?

 

[deweyzeph]

Where exactly does it say that this is against the terms and conditions?

https://www.registry.net.za/content...title=CO.ZA Published Policies and Procedures

5.3.5 The registrar must at all times provide and maintain accurate and complete domain registration data, and without limiting the generality hereof, specifically undertakes to ensure that:

5.3.5.1 The registrant, being the legitimate beneficiary of the domain name service, is accurately identified on the domain name record (full legal name); and

5.3.5.2 The registrant’s designated email address is accurately identified on the
domain name record where prescribed.

It's clear breach of clause 5.3.5.2

 

[DrJohnZoidberg]

https://www.registry.net.za/content...title=CO.ZA Published Policies and Procedures



It's clear breach of clause 5.3.5.2

Yep, thanks I was looking in the wrong place.

 

[Webafrica Helper]

It's come to my attention that WebAfrica is putting their own email address ([email protected]) as the registrants email address when registering domain names on behalf of their clients. Not only does this go against Uniforum's terms and conditions, but it also makes it almost impossible to transfer a domain away from them without their consent. This is highly unethical, would anyone from WebAfrica care to comment?

The only email address that should be registered as the registrant's email address for a domain is the email address of the owner of the domain.

Hi deweyzeph,

We are not inserting our details into the registrant section with the purpose of being unethical but more to streamline the transfer/management process of your domain. As a Accredited Registrar with UNIFORUM we are required to provide our domain customers with an ease of use service, which is why we provide all domain customers' with management system via your Customer Zone. This management system allows you to accept or reject any transfer request for the domain and this power lies with all customers.

So we are not trying to stop you from transferring a domain away from us at all but to ensure that we can create this management system, as required, we need to have our email address under the registrant details. It is not impossible to transfer a domain away from us as all you need to do is either inform us to accept the transfer on your behalf in a support ticket or just request that your new provider send the transfer ticket and you can just accept it from your side via the management system.

I can get our Domains Administrator to give you a call to better explain this if you wish? just PM me your customer code and I will arrange the call.

 

[koeksGHT]

I noticed this where all the domains I manage have

1c. Registrar : WA Networks

2l. registrantemail : [email protected]

I suppose its fine cause their management of DNS does work however is it against UNIFORM's T's and C's

 

[Domains.co.za (Wayne)]

I noticed this where all the domains I manage have

1c. Registrar : WA Networks

2l. registrantemail : [email protected]

I suppose its fine cause their management of DNS does work however is it against UNIFORM's T's and C's

@koeksGHT, line 1c will always be the Registrar, so WA Networks information in this line is correct, however you are correct in saying that the Registrant's email address should be in line 2l.

 

[server-admins.net]

I suspect that Web Africa used one contact for all domains at the time of transferring their clients domains from Legacy to EPP to allow for a faster and smoother transition, how ever they should have by now updated each domain to reflect the registrant's correct details.

Contact Web Africa via their support desk and ask them to correct the matter and if they are unable to then lodge a complaint with ZACR.

You will need to contact [email protected] and then ask them to mark the email for attention of legal department of ZACR.

 

[deweyzeph]

Hi deweyzeph,

We are not inserting our details into the registrant section with the purpose of being unethical but more to streamline the transfer/management process of your domain. As a Accredited Registrar with UNIFORUM we are required to provide our domain customers with an ease of use service, which is why we provide all domain customers' with management system via your Customer Zone. This management system allows you to accept or reject any transfer request for the domain and this power lies with all customers.

So we are not trying to stop you from transferring a domain away from us at all but to ensure that we can create this management system, as required, we need to have our email address under the registrant details. It is not impossible to transfer a domain away from us as all you need to do is either inform us to accept the transfer on your behalf in a support ticket or just request that your new provider send the transfer ticket and you can just accept it from your side via the management system.

I can get our Domains Administrator to give you a call to better explain this if you wish? just PM me your customer code and I will arrange the call.

You do not need to put your own email address in the registrant's email address in order for your management system to work. That doesn't make any sense. Uniforum's new EPP system will always send a transfer request directly to the registrar of the domain via their API regardless of what the registrant's email address is anyway, so that argument doesn't hold any water. The only difference with what you've done, is that the registrant will never get a transfer approval email from Uniforum, and therefore won't be able to overrule your transfer decision. Therefore you CAN stop a domain from being transferred away from you if you don't approve of the transfer.

You have effectively removed all power from the registrant of the domain, you have provided false information to the ZA Registry and you have broken their terms and conditions.

 

[FlatspinZA]

So, let's nitpick. I have used WA for all my domain registrations. Do you really think WA is going to do anything stupid to compromise their relationship with their thousands of customers?

I am more than confident that all those details can be changed quite easily - all you had to do was ask. IIRC, there is a way to do it from the WA CPL - I just never bothered.

 

[guest2013-1]

So, let's nitpick. I have used WA for all my domain registrations. Do you really think WA is going to do anything stupid to compromise their relationship with their thousands of customers?

I am more than confident that all those details can be changed quite easily - all you had to do was ask. IIRC, there is a way to do it from the WA CPL - I just never bothered.

The problem comes in where you have to ask. It's yours. Why do you have to ask anyone for anything? If I want to take my car for a drive, I don't have to go and ask my finance liaison for the keys so I can open the door to take a drive with it.

Their management system (as most of their programming/programmers in that company) is flawed. You have 3 email addresses that can be used. The registrant, the domain administrator and the technical contact. All 3 of them get the token/response when an update is initiated.

If the person who is the owner of the domain initiated a change through their management system, surely they won't go "huh? whats this? lets decline!!!", so the admin/technical mails will/can then respond with a "yes" which will initiate the changes within the next 24 hours.

However, if the client has ANY kind of dispute with Web Africa, they can basically hold his domain hostage and there is quite a bit of cost involved in getting Uniform involved in the entire process to get your domain back. I've seen it happen several times.

*edit

Same goes for when the client initiates an email change directly to uniform, their management system on the admin/technical mail address can decline, forcing the client to use their interface, but you still have your own email address as the client, as the registrant of your domain and not your ISP

 

[Murmaider]

Hi deweyzeph,

We are not inserting our details into the registrant section with the purpose of being unethical but more to streamline the transfer/management process of your domain. As a Accredited Registrar with UNIFORUM we are required to provide our domain customers with an ease of use service, which is why we provide all domain customers' with management system via your Customer Zone. This management system allows you to accept or reject any transfer request for the domain and this power lies with all customers.

So we are not trying to stop you from transferring a domain away from us at all but to ensure that we can create this management system, as required, we need to have our email address under the registrant details. It is not impossible to transfer a domain away from us as all you need to do is either inform us to accept the transfer on your behalf in a support ticket or just request that your new provider send the transfer ticket and you can just accept it from your side via the management system.

I can get our Domains Administrator to give you a call to better explain this if you wish? just PM me your customer code and I will arrange the call.

Hi Justin,

There is no valid reason what so ever to keep the ISP's dns admin/billing address in the registrant line.
WebAfrica needs to separate their ISP side of the business from their ZACR Accreditation side.

What you are doing is frowned apon by ZACR as they feels that this allows you (as an ISP) to hold the domain ransom for any hosting fees which are outstanding and this kind of stuff is not allowed. If a customer has paid for the domain for a year they must be freely allowed to do what they choose with the domain. Using your own ISP email address in the registrant line can possibly lead to the loss of your ZACR accreditation as it DOES breaks the ZACR policies which WebAfrica has agreed too and signed.

Regardless of even what I have mentioned the above, you do not even state in your T&C's that you are doing this on your customers behalf and you don't make any mention of this during the purchasing process or even give the client a choice.

So yes Justin, this does means that someone can come and take out 100 domains on your R1* package and 7 days after they been registered, transfer them away immediately to another hosting provider as their email address will be in the registrants line. You won't be able to and should not be able to stop this as the registrant MUST have full control of his domains.

If someone has their domains with WebAfrica, I recommend you asking them to update their registrant email address to be your email address.

 

[server-admins.net]

It's come to my attention that WebAfrica is putting their own email address ([email protected]) as the registrants email address when registering domain names on behalf of their clients. Not only does this go against Uniforum's terms and conditions, but it also makes it almost impossible to transfer a domain away from them without their consent. This is highly unethical, would anyone from WebAfrica care to comment?

The only email address that should be registered as the registrant's email address for a domain is the email address of the owner of the domain.

Hi deweyzeph, please take a look at zadomains.net for domain management which is independent of any isp and keeps you in control of your domain names, ie you are the registrant of your domains and have full control at all times.

 

[guest2013-1]

elitehost.co.za aren't douche-nozzles either and you can have your domain registration there independant of any hosting products they offer as well

 

[scudsucker]

Hi deweyzeph,

We are not inserting our details into the registrant section with the purpose of being unethical but more to streamline the transfer/management process of your domain...

This is bollocks.

You can put the domain owner's email as the registration, and add yourselves as a technical contact. That way you can administer the domain, but the owner is the registrant.

I realise you probably didn't think this through, but putting your own details smells very much like domain squatting.

 

[Domains.co.za (Wayne)]

You can put the domain owner's email as the registration, and add yourselves as a technical contact. That way you can administer the domain, but the owner is the registrant.

ALL Registrars in terms of their Registrar agreements they signed are required to add the registrants details in the registrants fields and not theirs, however you may still thinking about the old .co.za Legacy system that has admin & technical contacts, the new co.za EPP system uses a “thin” whois and therefore does not hold admin or technical contacts.

 

[Ben_D0ver]

Silence from Web Africa - when the **** hits the fan don't say anything

I am interested to see if they have used the same contact on all their domains or have created separate contacts per customer but have used their email address as the registrant's email address.

What they are doing is a clear violation of the Registrar Agreement, and illegal.

@ the OP, have they (Web Africa) updated the status of YOUR domain to reflect YOUR details?

 

[deweyzeph]

Silence from Web Africa - when the **** hits the fan don't say anything

I am interested to see if they have used the same contact on all their domains or have created separate contacts per customer but have used their email address as the registrant's email address.

What they are doing is a clear violation of the Registrar Agreement, and illegal.

@ the OP, have they (Web Africa) updated the status of YOUR domain to reflect YOUR details?

I don't have any domains with WebAfrica, but some of my clients who I do dev work for do, and I can tell you it's a major pain in the ass to transfer domains away from WebAfrica due to this issue.