Uniforum SA’s non benign rule of the co.za SLD
Posted on December 12th, 2008 by Richard Catto 7,850 views
Yesterday, I sent a FaceBook message to Arthur Goldstuck, a highly respected South African Internet research analyst and journalist about my troubles with Uniforum SA.
This is what I sent him:
Hi Arthur
I added you as a FaceBook friend because I’d like to draw to your attention a serious problem I’m having with Uniforum SA’s heavy handed manner in which they are dealing with me.
On November 28 a domain of mine, postmaster.co.za was deleted because I failed to pay the renewal fee of R50 in time.
I subsequently re-registered it with my email address of rrcatto@gmail.com (which is the address I use to manage my domains) with the intention of paying it that same day. However before I could do that, Uniforum SA’s system deleted it and then blocked my rrcatto @ gmail address from further registrations.
I managed to re-register postmaster.co.za with another address (ctneditor@gmail.com) and immediately paid the R50 fee, which was accepted and the domain reflects as paid.
I then requested that they unblock my rrcatto@gmail.com address. Louis Bezuidenhout responded and referred me to Form 5 – http://www.coza.net.za/legal/form_05.pdf – and demanded that I fill in this form to get my email address unblocked.
The standoff is that I am refusing to do this because I feel it is unnecessary red tape.
The email I received from Bezuidenhout on Nov 28 2008 is as follows:
“You have been banned from further CO.ZA domain registrations for attempting to circumvent CO.ZA domain re-registration policies.
You are required to complete a form5 available at
http://www.coza.net.za/legal/form_05.pdf and fax it to +2711 314-0088 along with a copy of your ID to ensure further CO.ZA registrations can take place.”I feel that I have proved my good faith by making payment for the domain (postmaster.co.za) and further demonstrations are unnecessary and a waste of my time.
Calvin Browne, also of Uniforum SA, wrote the following to me 15 minutes ago:
“If you want that block removed, you must fill in the form 5 as per the instructions on the form. This will be my final correspondence in this regard, and I will not be addressing this issue any further with yourself – I will be happy to take it up with your lawyers.”
How’s that for customer service? These people have blocked my email address for something I am not guilty of and are refusing to unblock it unless I jump through their hoops. That is how Uniforum SA deals with its captive audience.
His prompt reply blew me away because he shared with me that Uniforum SA had done the exact same thing to him previously. Uniforum SA blocked one of the most respected Internet consultants in South Africa and forced him to sign affidavits, as if his word alone could not be trusted.
It was clear from his reply that he was deeply upset and offended at the way they had handled him and I asked his permission to quote him whereupon he sent me the following message with his permission to publish it:
“This is hardly a unique experience, and I’ve been there too. This is probably one of the very few countries in the world where you can’t register your own lapsed domain, but anyone else is allowed to do so. The policy is simply stupid, but because it is Policy, with a capital P, nobody is willing to think it through. There is a deeper implication: Uniforum’s systems (not upgraded in a decade) and policies are symptomatic of a monopoly supplier of a service. They’re not doing themselves any favours, even if they have convinced themselves they have the moral high ground.” – Arthur Goldstuck, December 11 2008
Clearly, if this is the way Uniforum SA handles a man of Mr Goldstuck’s calibre, there is zero chance of me being handled with more respect. So I will have to resign myself to doing whatever Uniforum SA demands of me. If they tell me to stand on my head and twirl around before they will unblock my email address, then that is what I will have to do.
All hail Uniforum SA, dictator of the South African Internet!
Tags: Arthur Goldstuck, Uniforum SA
Filed under Admin |
4 Responses to “Uniforum SA’s non benign rule of the co.za SLD”
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Wendel Says:
December 12th, 2008 at 10:14I think they do this because it is (or used to be) possible to get a domain without paying for it.
Because they don’t require payment upfront for registering the domain, and they give you a few months to pay, it used to be possible to register a domain, wait a few months until they are about to suspend it, and then very quickly delete the domain, add it again and get another 3 months of free domain usage.
But before they delete the domain, they suspend it for a month or so. While it’s suspended it no longer resolves. So by the time it’s deleted for non-payment the domain has already gone a month or so without it being functional.
All in all, Uniforum is a huge pain in backside. They require nonsense that other domain registrars don’t (ie: reverse resolving dns servers, 24 hour wait to change DNS servers).
Personally I hope the government does take over co.za like they were going to.
Oh, and they are exceptionally rude. They speak to their customers like they are doing you a favour.
The only good thing about them is that R50 (After they were forced to get rid of the R200 “setup fee) is very cheap compared to most other tld.
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Richard Catto Says:
December 12th, 2008 at 14:42@Wendel: Yes, it’s true what you say. Due to the fact that Uniforum SA does not require payment at the time of registering a co.za domain, they leave the door wide open to opportunistic sign ups by people who have little intention of ever paying for the domains they register.
This system, and the failure thereof, is entirely of their own making.
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Matthew Green Says:
March 14th, 2009 at 17:02I know this post is a bit old, but I’d like to add my 2c …
I think it’s worth noting that you essentially get 6 months grace to pay for the domain before it is deleted.
In the past people would keep “bouncing” these 6 month windows effectively keeping a domain without paying for it. It’s the same logic that causes Uniforum to suspend DNS services when the domain is suspended. If your COZA domain get suspended, none of the associated DNS entries work any more and anything associated with it stops working (web site, e-mail, etc.)
Regardless of what anyone thinks of Uniforum’s policies, they are there, out in the open for anyone to see… by choosing to register a domain name with them you agree to abide by their rules …
There are numerous deficiencies with the system, multiple WHOIS domain queries result in a time-related lockout. Sending a text-file to be parsed by a script for the registration of a domain or any changes to it, are but two of them.
Until such time as there is another player in this space, we just have to live with it
And by the way I have been registering domains utilising Uniforum for nearly 14 years and have had many run-ins with them, including the same one that happened to you. I even “lost” domains to other people due to the arcane methods in place for domain management at Uniforum. This was when I was administering large numbers (many hundreds) of domains … -
Richard Catto Says:
March 14th, 2009 at 18:53@Matthew Green: You’re welcome to comment on older posts on this blog.
The problem you describe of people not paying for a domain and gaming the system is fully the fault of Uniforum SA. If they refused to register a domain without payment upfront, like all the other registrars do, then there would be no system to game.
Currently when a domain expires, you get to keep it for about 6 months as you say, but this is WRONG. If a domain is not paid within 7 days of it expiring, it should be immediately freed up for someone else to own it. Plus Uniforum should also publish an exact date and time that the domain will be released to the public. People who want it should be able to queue their request for it by supplying their credit card details (or making a refundable payment for it). Should the domain not be renewed within the 7 day window period, then the first person in the queue for it, whose payment method succeeds should gain it. And if a corporation with a trademark lets their trademark domain name lapse, they should be disallowed from challenging for it.
I also dispute your statement that we should have to abide with Uniforum SA’s policies for a co.za domain name. Uniforum SA does not OWN the co.za domain name space. Ownership of the domain space is vested with all South Africans. Uniforum SA currently administers it on our behalf, but WE, the citizens of the Republic of South Africa, should determine the policies.
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