Is Nominet violating UK competition law?

[martin-s]

You were voted in, that's the basis of my comments.

Voted in, and more to the point as a Non Exec Director whose job is basically to act as a check and balance, holding the board to account.

Lack of judgement on all of our parts I'm afraid.

 

[atlas]

The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.

 

[signature]

@invincible If you understand why large ISP always want to make sure their people are elected as NED, then you will understand my point.

The price increase was just an example, I can go on here and dig may thread to give the same example, I use the price thread because its a popular one.

No need to reply.

 

[atlas]

Four NEDs are voted in and each has a fiduciary duty to the company. We are not representatives of the members, like a town councillor might be. I have had this reiterated to me independently on several occasions, including at an IOD event I attended earlier this year. Any NED you vote in as a member will be in the same position.

But that's not quite correct though, is it?

Section 172 of the Companies Act states:

“A director of a company must act in a way that he considers, in good faith, would be most likely to promote the success of the company for the benefit of its members as a whole, and in doing so have regard (amongst other matters) to:

(a)The likely consequences of any decision in the long term

(b) the interests of the company’s employees

(c) the need to foster the company’s business relationships with suppliers, customers and others

(d) the impact of the company’s operations on the community and the environment

(e) the desirability of the company maintaining a reputation for high standards of business conduct, and

(f) the need to act fairly between the members of the company.”

Emphasis added is mine. The company is supposed to be run for the benefit of its members, and we are the members.

 

[Edwin]

atlas has nailed it. Nominet is rife with problems, and the NED are uniquely positioned to hold them to account if they wanted to.

 

[martin-s]

Actually, one of the many roles of the non-executive director is to hold the executive to account, not the board in the way you suggest. In the case of Nominet, the executive c-team and the six non-executive directors + chair are all members of the Nominet board.

So the big question. If you understand what you're supposed to do, why aren't you doing it?

 

[martin-s]

Nominet members reading - keep an eye on your inboxes fairly soon.

Yes, keep your eyes open for yet another membership research survey. Yawn.

 

[RobM]

Hey martin it's good that they ask our opinions. It worked so will with unnecessary uk introduction and massive price rises... oh wait. Sorry ignore that.

 

[martin-s]

Nominet appears to be (have become?) an organisation run for the benefit of registrars looking to line pockets, not for the benefit of the .uk namespace.

 

[ian]

Nominet appears to be (have become?) an organisation run for the benefit of registrars looking to line pockets, not for the benefit of the .uk namespace.

Well they most certainly pay their staff very well indeed, an average of £56,277 split between 155 employees, with most of the main board directors on £150,000 prior to dividends/benefits; the highest of which earnt £265,000. Even David gets £10,000 and that is just to defend Nominet on here (joke).

In my experience that is an incredibly high average for a business of this size with 106 operations and 39 office staff (and only 10 management). Not saying it is wrong though, but it certainly suggests Nominet look after themselves first, everything else second.

*all based on 2015 figures

 

[Sound]

I posted the comment because it appeared on my twitter line and looked interesting

Here is what ex staff think about Nominet on glass door.

https://www.glassdoor.co.uk/Reviews/Nominet-Reviews-E701438.htm

 

[martin-s]

Perhaps you should also explain what you mean by "...for the benefit of the .uk namespace".

..."registrars looking to line pockets"... strongly resonates with what I felt so many AcornDomains members are all about. Surely not @martin-s?

I don't easily fit into any camp other than "end user". Although a registrar, we're only very small. Probably less than 100 names that aren't our own. And I'm not really an investor to any serious level either. I have some names (again probably not many more than 100) for sale, but mostly I buy to develop.

So when I berate Nominet, it's as a small business owner. And one who believes that .uk isn't being run as it should be - to manage the namespace to the benefit of .uk registrants and the wider business community.

As I see it, the only people and organisations who benefited from the introduction of .uk and the price rise were Nominet themselves, and larger registrars who jacked their reg fees up to the skies.

But you're still avoiding my questions about why you fail to act as a check and balance who holds the Nominet executive to account?

 

[Edwin]

Even David gets £10,000 and that is just to defend Nominet on here (joke).

Actually, I believe the NED salary is £32K per year for 30 days work. See the intro of the 2015 voting information pack
http://www.nominet.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/CandidateStatements2015.pdf

 

[pberry4032]

Well you wouldn't want to rock the boat and lose that, not insignificant amount of money, would you?!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Edwin]

£31k. The amount Ian quoted was from the accounts when I'd only been an NED for less than one financial year.

A thousand pounds a day is still a lot to be paid to say "yes" to everything. In fact, it's a lot to be paid - period. There are few professions where people can expect to bill higher. But Nominet are clearly getting every penny in value in this case.

 

[RobM]

It all makes perfect sense now.

 

[RobM]

Hmmm how many .uk domains in the namespace? How many are owned by domainers? How many are registered with the three biggest registrars? It doesn't take a genius to work out where the bulk of the money has gone. But I love the logic (if you can call it that). I guess the gravy train is a bit larger than I thought.

 

[martin-s]

It's rather presumptuous of you given I've not noticed your attendance when I have had meetings with the Nominet Executive.

In the past I have done my best to take part remotely where possible, but my time is constricted by other responsibilities at the moment.

I'm also feeling disillusioned with how little effect my member involvement seems to have - thus the majority of my efforts have been focused on pushing around the member engagement project (gently rebuffed each time, naturally).

For some reason Nominet do feel they are listening, even though they are not.

If you genuinely feel that way, and aren't bored and mouthing off on here, write to the SID and tell him that you think this is the case about me (or any other NED). If you want to change something about Nominet's M&A's then call an EGM.

I don't feel strongly enough about you for that - and even if I did, it's not really my style.

All Nominet votes are controlled by larger registrars who are probably more than happy with the current direction of the organisation. I just feel that Nominet should be run for the good of the namespace, not the good of the registrars.

 

[ian]

I simply cannot accept that some members of this forum have not benefitted from the introduction of second level .uk domain names. Members of this forum are selling them for far more than they paid for them. @ian may wish to remind you about his recent "catch" of "lion(dot)uk". However, as you may be aware I was originally not in favour of .uk but it has happened and now cannot realistically be undone. I see no value in discussing it here.

Hey, don't drag me into this I only popped in to quote some wage figures for clarity. As for the particular domain you mentioned (and others), indeed, I hope to maximise its potential value *if* the .uk becomes to primary extension for the uk domain market, but for now, it is an expense. Wasn't a fan of its introduction, it makes for messy pairings and is probably 15 years too late, but as it is here, and there is nothing I can do about it, I might as well take my chances as and when opportunity arises. Back to the topic in hand, £31k, nice, how many hours work (or saying "yes" - Edwin) do you submit per week/month out of interest? If you are allowed to say of course.

 

[martin-s]

Hang on to your hats. The Nominet survey actually gives you the opportunity to provide negative feedback on the issues that matter.

Whether it will be heard or enacted is another thing, but I can't wait to see how many registrars select the "we perceive Nominet as arrogant" option.

And no, you really shouldn't be looking at providing business insurance and HR advice. FFS!