Bruce,
I am interested to hear what members of the NANOG list believe would be a better transfers process.
<operator_hat="on"> Non-functional changes of operationally significant configuration data is avoided. My thumbs are as thick as the next person's. I'm quite happy to buy a decade's worth of name, even at $35/name/year, because other than changes to NS records, as renumberings come and go, and machines spontainiously combust, I don't want change. When I need change, I plan it, just like renumbering or new circuits or new network elements or new staff. The notion of "REGISTRAR LOCK" is simply too weak, it can be flipped in minutes. I want something that presents only limited windows of state change (other than NS) opportunity, which I can syncronize to corporate standard paperwork flag days, so it isn't when I hand the keys to the shop to a junior and take the kids on holiday. I want a "transfer process" that is inherently difficult, if not broken, for domain names that are business assets. I don't care about "competition" between registrars, or how much I get soaked for by the registrar and registry, or how evil and/or retarded one or both are. I actually don't care about how quickly domain names are added to a tld zone, in fact, my domain names that are business assets worked just fine when names were published 3 times a week from the SRI NIC. So, I want a "transfers process" that is not indifferent to my use of domain names. I don't care what the domain name industry does with vanity names, trademark names, speculation names, porn names, spam names, even ebusiness names that aren't in the ISP/NSP food chain. Heck, I'd be happy to pay two registrars $35/name/yr to make sure they both have to be gamed before my domain names tied to operational assets become vulnerable to unplanned and state change in the registry (3rd party acquisition). [I actually do this, with some names with one good competitior-registrar, and some self-registrared, but to spread risk.] <operator_hat="off"> <hosting_hat="on"> I do have hosting customers who more or less come and go synchronous with registrar transfer. In effect, these are month-to-month or year contracts, and I understand why new customers are wary of hosting providers who want to be in the control path for registry state change. But the "bread and butter" are multi-year hosting contracts, and for these customers registrar they want to be in the same small boat I want to be in. <hosting_hat="off"> I hope that is helpful. I'm sure everybody else is wicked happy with the system they have, which is why everyone has the same system. Cheers, Eric