Hello Ron,

> 
> Steven, under the current policy a reseller has the 
> relationship with the registrant for all services _other 
> than_ the domain name, and it's there that the registrant has 
> the direct relationship with the registrar.

That would depend entirely on the services the reseller offers.
Some services may be provided directly by the reseller, and in other
cases the reseller may be an agent.  If you decide to assist someone
obtain a drivers licence - you are not the issuer of the licence, the
licence is between the licencing authority and the driver.

> 
> As I've said before, the reseller _does not exist_ as far as 
> the auDA model goes.
> 

That is not true.  Resellers are specifically covered in the registrar
agreement, and in the code of conduct.  auDA in fact is one of the few
organisations that does recognise the existance of resellers.  There is
no concept of a reseller in the ICANN regulatory regime, but that
doesn't mean that they don't exist (in fact they are the majority of
domain name suppliers).

> Once again let me reiterate - I, as a reseller, am in full 
> support of protecting the registrant against the rogues who 
> were so prevalent in our industry.  On the other hand, as a 
> reseller, I am against the situation in which, by virtue of 
> the fact that registrars have decided to offer services 
> similar to mine, I'm compelled to hand my customers to my competitors.
> 

Surely you have the choice of choosing a registrar that does not market
directly to a resellers customers, become a registrar yourself, or work
with others to create a registrar(e.g see http://www.corenic.org for an
example at the ICANN level, which is a registrar that is owned primarily
by resellers), or work with others to create a registry (e.g see
http://www.afilias.info for a registry owned by a group of registrars).

I see no need for auDA or anyone else to create a specific business
model for a registrar or reseller.  There is competition between
registrars, and you should speak to each of the registrars and establish
your own agreements.



> 
> The competing offerings may well be made indirectly, such as 
> through their website, but the fact remains that they do so 
> through the unfair advantage of having direct access to 
> customers that I have given them.

The obligation works both ways.  The past history is that resellers have
barely complied with any of the policy provisions.  If a registrar
chooses to legally allow a reseller to perform certain functions on
behalf of that registrar, that registrar has the liability for what that
reseller does.
The auDA registrar agreement makes the registrar liable for the actions
of the reseller.

The past behaviour of some resellers has led to the current
restrictions.

Regards,
Bruce