If registry.pro cancels my domains, can I sue them?

[sky]

I just got an e-mail to provide my licensing information.
I just gave them my California Driver's License number and provided the DMV as the required website of the licensing authority.

I am a professional software engineer of decades of experience working for software companies. And I have a California driver's license.

That makes me a licensed professional!

Who the hell are they to decide which licenses are necessary for someone to be a professional? I

Their rules make NO SENSE!

If you have a license in ANY field you're qualified to register .PRO names in any other field. But if you're a professional with no license but equivalent experience as a professional according to them you're not a professional in any field. That is discriminatory and subjective and it is utter hogwash.

Here I have been working my ass off to invest in and promote their TLD and they give me nothing be grief and harass me with ill-considered byzantine guidelines. But if they take my investment away from me, I'm going to be really pissed off.

 

[weblord]

can you also provide them with software engineer license?
your driver's license is ok if you're applying for a prof driver's instruction (i guess )
if you believe you can have their domain then file a report against them
http://www.internic.net/problem_reports/

 

[sky]

So far they just asked for my licensing information.
I am a professional driver. I've driven for money before and I have a license to drive. So that makes me a professional driver. (Once a pro, always a pro, I have the license). And they say licensed professionals can get any domains they want.

It's subjective stuff. They haven't canceled any domains, but if they do they're going to get a big fight and a lot of noise. They settled on asinine and stupid definitions of what it is to be a professional, and coming from an industry where I do professional work and better work than probably any licensed pros if there are any, I refuse to be belittled by their discriminatory subjective guidelines. If being a licensed electrician also makes someone qualified to register domain related to professional piloting according to registry.pro's rules, then I say my D/L qualifies me to register names too. I don't think their rules pass the sniff test, and I have no problem seeing what the courts say about it.

 

[weblord]

you're pro alright.

i think the license they're talking about has something to do or related to the domain you just requested to be registered.

 

[sky]

I just contacted their legal department and asked them what flies.
At EnCicra.com they make it sound like there is NO relationship
between the license one has and the names they register:

"Dot-pro domain names work just like dot-com domains, with the ability to create
fully featured websites and email addresses. The extension is already universally
recognized on the Internet as the premium space for licensed professionals.

The .Pro domain is a restricted domain name, available to professionals who
self-certify that they meet the eligibility requirements of their profession.

There are no restrictions on the types of names a business or professional
may register: including trademarks, industry keywords, search engine terms,
company names, or marketing slogans."

So either EnCirca is confused and posting misleading information or registry.pro has seriously ridiculous policy.

 

[yesonline]

You have a drive license and you are good at software which including driving software or something relates drivers, so I can not see why you are not qualified to a .pro name?

 

[akcampbell]

This is going to be interesting, if I were you I´d stick to the professional software developer angle. I wouldn´t give RegistryPro your driving license number, I would email Matt Buckland at Registry.pro and detail your professional background, the companies you have worked at and job titles. Ask what to put in the license number box on the AV verification link.

You´ve got to play the game, RegistryPro isn´t going to cancel your .pros if you prove to them you are a professional software developer but if you give them your driving license number and say you are a professional driver, that could put them in a difficult position.

It´s in RegistryPro best interests for you to keep your .pros (more money for them and more .pros registered) and I don´t think every profession is going to have a license number (e.g teaching) but software development is a safer play than driving. Good luck!

 

[sky]

I put my CDL in the box and submitted it.
I won't call myself a professional driver. But I did ask them to tell me what I need to do via e-mail to their legal department.

And frankly I don't think their rules are enforceable under the law.
I think a jury would laugh them out on their assess once the catch-22
was pointed out.

 

[Michael]

What is the domain related to? If it isn't at all related to driving your CDL isn't going to help. Why don't you just explain to them that there is no license required in the state of California to do business as a software engineer (assuming that's the case)?

 

[sky]

What is the domain related to? If it isn't at all related to driving your CDL isn't going to help. Why don't you just explain to them that there is no license required in the state of California to do business as a software engineer (assuming that's the case)?

I think you guys are missing a fundamental problem with their rules.
They don't make any SENSE.

If a licensed plumber can get a domain related to engineering, and according to their rules, the plumber can, then they are indicating that the license has nothing to *do* with what the domain name is.

 

[mulligan]

Why don't you stop talking the 'frankly' talk and .. to be frank ... walk the 'frank' walk ...
You go show them how to run their own registry ... Maybe consider hiring J.Berryhill while you're at it .. might save you a shit-load of cash?

 

[Jake]

Maybe I am misunderstanding what you are saying, but ehres what I think.

It's not a drivers license that you need for a .pro name. Its a business license.
I believe thats what they are looking for,

 

[dotprofan]

I really think it would be helpful if the Registry gave examples of what was acceptable and what isn't. For instance, a pedicab driver here in San Diego requires a permit from the city to operate - does that constitute a licensed professional? How about a certified lifeguard which requires passing the Red Cross' certification? It's all very unclear IMHO.

 

[sky]

Maybe I am misunderstanding what you are saying, but ehres what I think.

It's not a drivers license that you need for a .pro name. Its a business license.
I believe thats what they are looking for,

Well you almost make too much sense. But it's OK if you want to miss the point.

I really think it would be helpful if the Registry gave examples of what was acceptable and what isn't. For instance, a pedicab driver here in San Diego requires a permit from the city to operate - does that constitute a licensed professional? How about a certified lifeguard which requires passing the Red Cross' certification? It's all very unclear IMHO.

That's exactly it. And between registry.pro and encirca.com it is confusing, still. I think registry.pro has consistently got it screwed up with regard to handling 2nd-level registrations. The 3rd level registrations are indisputable. For professions that require a license in order for someone to work in that field, it makes perfect sense.

But the 2nd-level domain registration logic is the most absurd nonsense-by-committee I've ever seen, combining all the worst elements of bureaucracy. I've asked them for clarification before and they are still vague. These obscene loopholes just make it completely unfair for the customer and public, so I'm challenging them on it. For such a snooty outfit, you'd think they'd have worked harder to wrangle a workable set of guidelines out of their second swing at it, at least.

 

[mis_chiff]

You must meet all these requirements, not just one

Registration requirements

A .Pro domain name Registrant (= Owner) :
• is a person or entity who provides professional services
• have been admitted to or licensed by a government certification body, or jurisdictional licensing entity recognized by a governmental body (that body or licensing entity requires that its members be licensed or admitted to provide services)
• is in good standing

Unfortunately a "Professional Drivers License" won't cut it,
unless you own a driving company.

The .Pro top level domain was previously restricted to Registrants in the accounting, engineering, legal and medical fields in the United States, Canada, Germany and the UK.
Now all licensed and credentialed professionals and professional entities providing services are eligible to register .Pro domains

 

[cdboard]

How about a certified lifeguard which requires passing the Red Cross' certification?

Red Cross isn't the government.

 

[dotprofan]

This is true, but the contract says you don't need to be certified directly from a government institution. To get a job as a lifeguard in San Diego, the city requires that you pass the Red Cross certification. This could fit the terms below:

Professional Use. The Service is made available to you for your professional use only. As such, you agree that you are a person or entity who provides professional services and has been admitted to or licensed by, and is in good standing with, a government certification body or jurisdictional licensing entity recognized by a governmental body, which body requires that its members be licensed or admitted to a certifying or licensing entity and regularly verifies the accuracy of its data.

Red Cross isn't the government.

 

[DnPresident]

To answer your question

"If registry.pro cancels my domains, can I sue them?"

Yes... you can sue them or anyone else at any time during your regular local government/court house business hours in the United States.

Winning or losing?

 

[sky]

You must meet all these requirements, not just one

Unfortunately a "Professional Drivers License" won't cut it,
unless you own a driving company.

We shall see. Technically it's a gray area. And there are too many of them with the .PRO TLD.

The worst problem with their 2nd level domain requirement is this:

A hairstylist with a license can register a software engineering related domain, but a typical professional software engineer cannot.

That is unfair and discriminatory, and for a quasi-governmental regulatory agency for the Internet, that is unacceptable. They need to provide me some clear reasonable means of licensing myself.

They *say* that the license is blah blah blah important on the one hand.
But on the other hand, once you jump that hurdle, the sky is the limit and license no longer needs to pertain to what's being registered, which betrays everything about the implications of their policy.

Now, I am referring to 2nd-level domains, not 3rd-level domains (third level domains are alright - no quibble).

Second level domains they should just open up like .COMs because there's no rhyme or reason there anyway. What kind of license should I have to register skadoozle.pro or something weird like that?

They should be happy they have the 3rd level domains and simply expand and clarify the requirements of all of their categorical 2nd level domains (for example eng.pro, med.pro, ...) and satisfy professionals that way, and leave the rest to the public to use and spare us all, the registry included, a lot of grief.

To answer your question

"If registry.pro cancels my domains, can I sue them?"

Yes... you can sue them or anyone else at any time during your regular local government/court house business hours in the United States.

Winning or losing?

I wonder if it was a rhetorical question?

 

[namewaiter]

A hairstylist with a license can register a software engineering related domain, but a typical professional software engineer cannot.

great point and the reason i think their 'rules' will need to be redefined and relaxed.