allow certain customers to lock / unlock their own domains

[Jeff]

It would be nice if there were an option to allow certain customers to lock and unlock their own domains. For new users, I like having them only unlockable from the RWI to make sure they aren't lured away by evail-doers such as domain registry of america, etc. scams. However for more advanced customers, I would like to give them power to lock/unlock thier own domains as desired.

[Laurie-Resell1]

It would be nice if there were an option to allow certain customers to lock and unlock their own domains. For new users, I like having them only unlockable from the RWI to make sure they aren't lured away by evail-doers such as domain registry of america, etc. scams. However for more advanced customers, I would like to give them power to lock/unlock thier own domains as desired.
Domains can be locked and unlocked through the domain management panel at: https://resellers.resellone.net/manage/. You login with the domain name and the username and password that the domain is set up with in the RWI. The RWI is your admin for the domains. If you need any assistance with this please contact us at support@resellone.net or through live chat M-F 7am - 6pm CST.

[Brooke-Resell1]

It would be nice if there were an option to allow certain customers to lock and unlock their own domains. For new users, I like having them only unlockable from the RWI to make sure they aren't lured away by evail-doers such as domain registry of america, etc. scams. However for more advanced customers, I would like to give them power to lock/unlock thier own domains as desired.

That's an interesting thought. I think that the locking and unlocking rules are usually in favor of giving the end user control so as to prevent the registrar or reseller from holding domain names hostage. At the same time, there are a lot of registrars out there these days luring customers away with deceptive advertising practices.

In essence, even though they make up only a small part of our community, there are evil-doers on both sides of the business, so how do we decide as an industry who should control the locking and unlocking of domains? I think your idea could spark some interesting debate on this topic, Jeff.

Also, does anyone know of a wholesale registrar that puts the locking and unlocking of domains into the hands of the reseller instead of the end user? Or a retail registrar that does not allow its customers access to the locking and unlocking of their domains? If so, I'd be curious to see if anyone has done business with one of these registrars, and what their experience has been.

[Jeff]

Laurie & Brooke - I think I've finally found a feature that you are not familiar with :D :D :D (instead of simply asking you endless easy questions that probably had you laughing at times.)

Look at the ResellOne RWI under the "Tech contact information" link (odd place for it, but that's where this is) -- you will see the following option:

Allow domain owners to lock/unlock Domain through public manage interface: Yes No

This appears to apply globally to my reseller account, meaning that if I select "No", none of my customers can unlock their domains through https://resellers.resellone.net/manage/ and they can only be locked/unlocked through my RWI -- if I choose "yes" all of my customers can lock/unlock their domains through https://resellers.resellone.net/manage/.

One of my non-profit customers was tricked by "domain registry of america" as the administrator simply paid the postal mail invoice without realizing that it was actually a transfer (and on the back it says that if you want to transfer out they may charge you a fee at their descretion which is definitely not legal, but could likely lead to a real hassle.) So in a way I can see the benefit to requiring fully managed customers to request domains be unlocked just so I can be sure no funny business is going on. On the other hand, I would also like to allow other customers to be able to lock/unlock their own domains. The option seems to already exist on a global per-reseller account basis in the resellone.net system so if it's there already (unless I misunderstand) all I'm proposing is the option to make it on a per domain account basis instead of a per reseller account basis so the reseller can delgate or not delegate the control instead of assigning it across the board.

Unless maybe this is a feature that is being phased out of the resellone.net RWI?

[Laurie-Resell1]

Laurie & Brooke - I think I've finally found a feature that you are not familiar with :D :D :D (instead of simply asking you endless easy questions that probably had you laughing at times.)

Look at the ResellOne RWI under the "Tech contact information" link (odd place for it, but that's where this is) -- you will see the following option:



This appears to apply globally to my reseller account, meaning that if I select "No", none of my customers can unlock their domains through https://resellers.resellone.net/manage/ and they can only be locked/unlocked through my RWI -- if I choose "yes" all of my customers can lock/unlock their domains through https://resellers.resellone.net/manage/.



One of my non-profit customers was tricked by "domain registry of america" as the administrator simply paid the postal mail invoice without realizing that it was actually a transfer (and on the back it says that if you want to transfer out they may charge you a fee at their descretion which is definitely not legal, but could likely lead to a real hassle.) So in a way I can see the benefit to requiring fully managed customers to request domains be unlocked just so I can be sure no funny business is going on. On the other hand, I would also like to allow other customers to be able to lock/unlock their own domains. The option seems to already exist on a global per-reseller account basis in the resellone.net system so if it's there already (unless I misunderstand) all I'm proposing is the option to make it on a per domain account basis instead of a per reseller account basis so the reseller can delgate or not delegate the control instead of assigning it across the board.

Unless maybe this is a feature that is being phased out of the resellone.net RWI?
Wow Jeff,

I am impressed!

I can tell you for sure that this is not being phased out, however, I also do not see that it is going to be changed at any near point in the future. I will be sure to forward your suggestion though.

I would think that you would be much better off just putting the domains in your account in their own profiles with their own logins and while some might be at risk in situations like the one you pointed out, you can warn your customers at the time that they order, that things like this have happened in the past. It is up to you how you prefer to manage your customers though. Just a thought.

[Jeff]

You're probably right - and as Brooke says too, the best option is probably to give up the "master lock" and feel secure enough letting the individual accounts lock & unlock.

Related question - let's say I wanted to have two reseller accounts, say my-company and my-company-private-reg with different RWI settings in this case or possibly other cases. How easy or difficult is it to move individual domain names and/or accounts containing domains betweeen resellers? Possible, or not possible? Is the only way a standard transfer like from an external registrar?

Second thought:
I would love to have an RWI "dashboard" maybe around where the current balance is shown that also shows at a glance:
1.) the following domains are set to expire within 30 days but not set to autorenew
2.) the following domains are unlocked: domain, account, email address

[Brooke-Resell1]

You're probably right - and as Brooke says too, the best option is probably to give up the "master lock" and feel secure enough letting the individual accounts lock & unlock.

Related question - let's say I wanted to have two reseller accounts, say my-company and my-company-private-reg with different RWI settings in this case or possibly other cases. How easy or difficult is it to move individual domain names and/or accounts containing domains betweeen resellers? Possible, or not possible? Is the only way a standard transfer like from an external registrar?

I see, you'd have two reseller accounts, one for registrants to have access to lock and unlock domains, and another where your registrants do not have access to lock and unlock domains. Moving domains between resellers, however, would have to be treated like a transfer from an external registrar, and would automatically add an additional year of registration.

Back to your original issue, regardless of which option you choose (allowing your customers to lock and unlock their domains, or not allowing them to) you should protect yourself in your TOS. If you choose to give them that access, you need to make certain you've let them know that the security of their domain names is up to them, and if the domains are erroneously transferred by their actions you are not liable in any way.

If you choose not to give them that access you may be gaining additional protection for your customers, but giving yourself additional liability as well. If your customer's domain was unlocked, and they don't have the ability to lock it themselves, and the domain was transferred away by mistake, you're opening yourself up to be responsibile for that error. Even if you word your TOS to the effect that you're not responsible for domains that are transferred away, it may be hard for you to legally shake that responsibility.

Second thought:
I would love to have an RWI "dashboard" maybe around where the current balance is shown that also shows at a glance:
1.) the following domains are set to expire within 30 days but not set to autorenew
2.) the following domains are unlocked: domain, account, email address

That would be interesting, but could be a feature not liked as much by some. If it had been a feature of OpenSRS when we first became a Tucows reseller, for instance, those lists could have been thousands of domains long.

[WillyMore]

Owner of the Domain should lock and unlock That is the industry standard and the American Way!

[Laurie-Resell1]

Owner of the Domain should lock and unlock That is the industry standard and the American Way!
The owners of the domains can lock and unlock through the EU domain management panel.