This below was written 10 years ago. It was done when the then .bg ccTLD decided to start charging for registration of domain names in the .bg space.
Digital Systems Slavov & Co – Varna, which due to historic reasons is the Top Level Domain Administrator (TLDA) in the .bg domain, with no prior warning has introduced post factum from January 1st, 1998, tax for registration of new domains in .bg, and an annual fee for maintaining them in the Internet. We are talking about names like president.bg, web.bg, pari.bg, acad.bg, isoc.bg, digsys.bg and all the rest, which are being published daily in tens of mass media across the country and worldwide.
The names in the .bg domain are national symbol. They also form the area of the Bulgarian informational resources in the Internet and can not be used as commercial object from one or another private or state-owned company without the possibility of public control.
We, the undersigned Internet users with registered domain names in .bg categorically PROTEST against this monopolist attitude!
We are warning all the Internet users that by this fact, Digital Systems are forcing us to register the names not in the .bg domain, but in .com, .net, etc., thus losing our national identity. This will bring loses and missed chances for all the Internet users in Bulgaria.
Misusing their monopolist situation, Digital Systems enforce a tax, which not only is too high, but is also not in accordance with the Protecting the Competition Lawљ and the good habits. In return for these high taxes, Digital Systems doesn’t offer a contract, neither take responsibilities or obligations.
We propose:
1. The taxes should be paid to a non for profit organization, which will later on pay the Internet domain name registry the expense for the domain names maintenance, and this money should not be used for competition by any of the ISPs.
1. To work out rules for the TLDA behavior, where all the requirements for the position should be stated so that we’ll never have one-sided acts, against the interests of all the users of names in the .bg domain area.
Until we reach an agreement we insist Digital Systems:
We plead all the users of domain names in the .bg area not to pay the illegally requested tax until the case is cleared!
We ask for support from the appropriate government bodies to solve the problem, which will also cause bad image of Bulgaria abroad.
This letter is sent to RIPE, IANA, the Internet Society, Commission for protecting the competition, The National Assembly, The Council of Ministers, the President of the Republic of Bulgaria.
The above is signed by 29 people, and there was a page open for comments (see them below in the table):
Signed by:
N: Name Family name Organization е-mail
1. Theodore Zahov Spectrum Net info@spnet.net
2. Ivan Zheliazkov Spectrum Net info@spnet.net
3. Ewgeni Alexiev Process Control shady@process.bis.bg
4. Alexander Zvezdev Spacecom alexz@bis.bg
5. Ivailo Krumov Cyberlink ivak@cblink.net
6. Simeon Vlakhov omex.bg moni@omex.bg
7. Ivan Pashov Comm.&Inf. Technologies jp@cit.bg
8. Nikolai Gorchilov Orbitel ngorchilov@orbitel.bg
9. Viktor Francis Orbitel vfrancess@orbitel.bg
10. Radoslav Velev I.Net Rado@inet.bg
11. Radostina Mileva Bulnet
12. Boris Basmadjiev Bulnet boris@bulnet.bg
13. Atanas Grigorov Atil
14. Lachezar Dinev Internet Bulgaria lnd@lnd.internet-bg.bg
15. Konstantin Ternianov Levski webmaster@levski.bg
16. Georgi Zlatanov bgnet joro@bgnet.bgљ
17. Kalin Bogatzevski bis, xax kalin@bis.bgљ
18. Antoan Nikolaev Bonmarine antoan@bonmar.bg
19. Christo Kostov Eurointegra info@einet.bgљ
20. Ivaylo Lenkov Iris Systems iyl@iris.bg
21. Veni Markovski Internet Society – Bulgaria veni@isoc.bg
22. Plamen Hristov Datacom datacom.bg
23. Lyuben Yovchev Mobiltel yova@mobiltel.bg
24. Bisser Yanov Micronic
25. Nikolai Naidenov Sd-bub.bg
26. Valentin Mokov digdes.bg
27. Lyubomir Roussev GlobalOne lyubomir@gocis.bg
28. Mmochil Momchev Bulgaria Online mmom@online.bg
29. Rumen Sofkov ibn.bg
This is a web page dedicated to the new fee Digital Systems wants to charge for the .bg domains!
Starting January 1st, 1998, Digital Systems – Varna (www.digsys.bg) decided they’ll charge a startup fee of $ 50 and an anual fee of $ 50 for registering the .bg domains.
This web page will give you an idea of what the current situation is and will allow you to write down your opinion, too! Please, do not post vulgar or insulting messages! Add your professional comments in English!(500 bytes max!)
[Thu Jan 8 22:32:15 1998]
I think if we there will be a charge for domains in the .bg domain, then in return we’ll need a service like internic.net – registration within minutes. Now it takes between 4 days and 4 months to have a name registered.
written by: veni markovski
veni@isoc.bg[Tue Jan 13 14:31:34 1998]
Please read http://www.digsys.bg/bg-nic/. If you have questions or comments about the procedure to register domain names in the BG TLD, or about the introduced from 1.1.1998 payment for the registration services, please discuss them with hostmaster@digsys.bg. Inform yourself before making public statements that may turn to be false or imprecise.
written by: Daniel Kalchev
daniel@digsys.bg[Wed Jan 14 09:20:38 1998]
If digsys wants to make bussiness out of the domain registration they surely have to make their service faster and better. Daniel may say what he wants about us informing ourselves, but I’m not sure if he is informed well enough about the opinion about digsys himself. But I still hope for the best. So if they wanna get their money – so be it.
written by: Momchil Shumackov
momchil@eltrade.bg[Sat Jan 17 23:51:18 1998]
The registration of BG domains has to be done by a nonprofit organization, created, for example by an association of bulgarian ISPs or something like that.
written by: Vladislav Hristozov
vv@bulgarianspace.com[Sat Jan 17 23:53:45 1998]
The registration of BG domains has to be done by a nonprofit organization, created, for example by an association of bulgarian ISPs or something like that.
written by: Vladislav Hristozov
vv@bulgarianspace.com[Sat Jan 17 23:57:27 1998]
Az mislq che koito i da se griji za BG domainite, to trqbva pone da se predstavia niakakvo dokazatelstvo za tova kade otivat i za kakvo parite ot tezi domaini. A che shte ima taksa za registrirane, to se e vidialo che ste ima. p.s. Chudno dali s taksa, DIGSYS ste registrirat domainite po-burzo ili pak ste e sushtata kasha ?
written by: Lubomir Kostov
info@mail.otel.net[Mon Jan 19 17:06:21 1998]
Domain Name Registration as all other services (1)should not be free of charge and (2)it could not be made automatically “within a minutes” in our country. (1)The question is ‘Who is making bussiness out of domain registration?’ (look at http://www.gocis.bg/en/08/gocis.htm – Internet Services – Domain Name Registration – 250 USD ?!? (2)Remember www.technolink.bg and veni-markovski.com
written by: Volin Karagiozov
V.Karagiozov@mgu.bg[Mon Jan 19 17:13:09 1998]
cont… from previous posting: (3)There is no need to pay this tax to somebody else (non-profit organization) (4)No doubt – this should be high quality service – let’s concentrate on this issue.
written by: Volin Karagiozov
V.Karagizov@mgu.bg[Tue Jan 20 11:05:37 1998]
Vsiaka usluga, nezavisimo ot oblasta na prilojenie iziskva zaplashate – motivirane. Tova obace triabva dae syobrazeno i s kacestvoto i s jizneniat standart. Drug e vyprosa koia i kakva triabva da byde obslujvashtata instancia. V tozi red na misli, metodite koito prilaga digsys.bg sa napylno nepriemlivi. Razumen izhod bi bil edin nacionalen forum na ISP, crez koito da se utocniat iziskvaniata kym syotvetnata usluga i nivoto na zaplashtane.
written by: Ivailo Glavchovsky
iff@cyberlink.bg[Tue Jan 20 11:09:37 1998]
someone has been using my name to post messages, which I do not share. Do not forget I am friend of Daniel Kalchev and I am totally against any policy discriminating or humiliating Daniel in any way!
written by: volin karagiozov
volin@mgu.bg[Tue Jan 20 14:52:58 1998]
As with all other things in Bulgaria, the Internet access provision is all-fucked-up. There is no better way to do it than do it together. Bulgaria must have network exchange point and TLD DNS as part of it, with equal connection to all (or at least the bigger, primary) ISPs. And if they are not ready to go this way, we, the customers, are going to “push” them. Let’s send them a mail about it.
written by: Anastas Geokov
v-sync@sf.icn.bg[Thu Jan 22 00:46:54 1998]
I think that Digital Systems have been monopolists in the provision of Inet services for a long time, and they think that they’re still the biggest and the most secure provider (which isn’t true),and, if they want to charge even for this,then it’s time the main name server for the .bg domain to be moved somewhere else,to provide secure and pleasant services for all the bulgarian provid
written by: Vasil Kolev
vasil@eos.dobrich.acad.bg[Thu Jan 22 11:55:31 1998]
We think that there are three problems in this case: 1) a private company, specialized in Internet providing is making money through a procedure which has a public importence (usually such kind of procedures are relised by the State or by a public Institution, and in some cases are delegated to private companies via a tender) 2) the fee is to high in the Bulgarian economic context; it remains high even when
written by: stefanov & staynov
head@computer-arts.bg[Sun Jan 25 02:51:34 1998]
$50/year for a .bg doman? That’s not a pain, but it’s somehow unfair to the other ISPs. And btw why only *organizations* are permitted to register a domain?!?
written by: Nickolay Pepelieshev
cmage@pernik.spnet.net[Mon Jan 26 16:52:19 1998]
The problem is not a $50 fee, it is possible to be a $5 or $250 fee. The problem is that a commercial organization has a monopol position on Bulgarian ISP market. This is not normal, tnis is against any written and not written rules of the free market. The .BG DNS have to be hosted by non-profit organization. An example University or especially created by major ISP’s. Any historical reasons have to be rejected. Imagine tha
written by: Ivan Gorinov
pendgy@mail.bnsa.acad.bg[Fri Jan 30 09:40:57 1998]
daniel is lying. i’ve sent 5 messages to hostmaster@digsys.bg and haven’t received an answer from this person.
written by: veni markovski
veni@padishah.com[Fri Jan 30 12:02:13 1998]
Vie bihte li davali po 50$ za pravoto da se narichate “bulgari”? Zashtoto .bg za internet obshnosta .bg oznachava tochno tova! Tvardo ne sam saglasen s reshenieto na DigSys!
written by: Lazar Gramatikov
Lazar.Gramatikov@mailcity.com[Fri Jan 30 13:09:59 1998]
Bulgarite sa v mnogo otnosheniya sa zare na rekordite! Vseki koito se dokopa do neshto vazhno i znachimo vednaga se obyavyava za “VELIK”. I sluchaya s “DIGSYS” e analogichen! Kraino vreme e v BG da kazhem: “Stiga s tozi monopolizum,gospoda bivshi i nastoyashti velichya” INTERNET e svobodna i demokratichna teritoriya,za shiroko skroeni hora!
written by: Luchezar Nachev
lucho@geology.acad.bg[Fri Jan 30 13:13:05 1998]
Bulgarite sa v mnogo otnosheniya sa zare na rekordite! Vseki koito se dokopa do neshto vazhno i znachimo vednaga se obyavyava za “VELIK”. I sluchaya s “DIGSYS” e analogichen! Kraino vreme e v BG da kazhem: “Stiga s tozi monopolizum,gospoda bivshi i nastoyashti velichya” INTERNET e svobodna i demokratichna teritoriya,za shiroko skroeni hora!
written by: Luchezar Nachev
lucho@geology.acad.bg[Fri Jan 30 13:50:29 1998]
THIS SUCKS!!!
written by: Velian Georgiev
velian@yahoo.com[Fri Jan 30 16:42:17 1998]
Ne sym naiasno s “ne-komersialnite” organizacii, no mi se iska da syzdam edna:))) s priemeren budjet: $6000 za naeta linia do I-net dostavchik (vynshen da sme “nezavisimi”) !! x12=$72000 $1000 zaplata (i obeshtavam da sym “nezavisim”)x12=$12000 $200 za sekretarka (rusa )x12=$2400 😉 naem, telefon i t.n. – tova e v kryga na shegata, no taka shte se napravia “n
written by: Yuriy Kozunetsov
yuriy@uni-svishtov.bg[Sun Feb 1 08:03:45 1998]
The problem with this fee is not the amount, but who charges it. $50 may well turn out to be the right amount needed for maintaining a domain name registration, but this is not the point. A private company cannot decide on how much should be collected, and cannot make a profit off it. This decision is illegal and should be protested immediately.
written by: Daniel Nikovski
danieln@cs.cmu.edu[Sun Feb 1 23:53:01 1998]
I think this fee will significantly reduce the development of the Internet in Bulgaria, and therefore deprive the Bulgarian people and nation of their right to be part of the Internet (WORLD) society. Domain registration should be a minimal fee, just enough to cover maintenance, and should be collected by non-for-profit org., NOT by ISP or any for-profit organization. An ISP cannot and should not have power to remove or administer do
written by: neno
neno@linux.hartford.edu[Tue Feb 3 13:09:42 1998]
What we have here is a monopolist trying to make easy money from its position. The domain administration should be transferred from DigSys to a non-profit party, elected by the Buglarian ISPs.
written by: Grigor Gatchev
grigor@iph.bio.acad.bg[Wed Feb 4 00:37:08 1998]
I can’t understand who gives DigSys the right to monopolize domain registering. What if I decide to register the domains, and say that every other person or organization does not have that right? Veni Markovski is right – we need something like internic.net – a non-profit asspciation of the major (if not all) ISPs to maintain this.
written by: Stoyan Jordanov
ironcode@bulnet.bg[Wed Feb 4 22:21:36 1998]
No way!
written by: Blagoy Stefanov
bns@bis.bg[Fri Feb 6 03:47:15 1998]
Please be more active! Please come to soc.culture.bulgaria, where I’m fighting a losing battle. Nobody is going to fix this for you, not the president, not the NS, and not IANA (only the commission of fair competition is a right addressee in the petition). Promote the issue to more people, get more people to sign the petition!
written by: Vladimir Alexiev
vladimir@cs.ualberta.ca[Sun Feb 8 16:00:10 1998]
1. A private company SHOULD NOT be monopolist in top-level domain registering (especially in Bulgaria). InterNIC is a private company, but they were given this right by the government, and InterNIC is not a monopolist in US, it only holds the most popular TLDs. BTW, InterNIC’s rights are EXPIRING soon!
written by: Nick Spirov, EuroOffice Ltd
nick@wallet.com[Sun Feb 8 16:02:23 1998]
2. It is not true that the US domain registration taxes are the same – InterNIC doesn’t have an initial charge, $100 are for TWO years, and in .BG $100 are for ONE (first) year. BTW, $100 for the average US company is just a fraction of the week’s correspondence costs, and I won’t comment what is $100 here.
written by: Nick Spirov, EuroOffice Ltd
nick@wallet.com[Sun Feb 8 16:05:35 1998]
3. I think, a fair government or non-profit organization can NOT be formed, and I think that all REAL ISP’s should create a limited liability company (Ltd.) with equal shares, and every new ISP should become an equal member too. This Ltd. will hold the TLDA and the national backbone, if there is going to be one. The company should be profitable, mainly from the traffic exchange between the ISP’s.
written by: Nick Spirov, EuroOffice Ltd
nick@wallet.com[Sun Feb 8 16:07:34 1998]
4. Unfortunately, I don’t think DigSys will accept this without being forced to. But if Daniel is claiming that TLD administering is not intended to be “big bucks” for their company, they should accept this idea. This seems to be the only way to do it right. FIGHTING SUCKS! Niki.
written by: Nick Spirov, EuroOffice Ltd
nick@wallet.com[Wed Feb 11 22:02:54 1998]
Abe NESTASTNICI ! Ne vi li e sram ?! Ne stiga ce prodavate bokluk, ami iskate i da ne plastate nisto ! Kupete si pone imeto !
written by: Pater Petrov
pet@hotmail.com[Wed Feb 11 23:49:52 1998]
Why everybody is fighting against the charge for the service? Are the money the main problem? I think that most of the power should be used against the quality of that service. Every ISP knows how “fast” DigSys does domain registration. And for me this breaks laws and non-writen rules for fair competition. Yes, Digital Systems Ltd. was started very early to provide Internet in Bulgaria but they do not own The Net.
written by: Zlatko Krastev
goldie@ibm.net[Tue Feb 17 23:57:15 1998]
Message to Mr. “Pater Petrov”: We don’t seem to have much of a quality problem, if this is what you mean. Anyway, this discussion is about the TLDA issue, not for personal dogfighting. And BTW, the discussion is in ENGLISH, for those who can use it. Regards, Niki.
written by: Nick Spirov, EuroOffice Ltd
nick@eurooffice.bg[Mon Mar 2 15:47:56 1998]
The domain ‘bg’ should be a national property. It will help for the identity of all BG-related servers. No any private company should own the bulgarian identity in the growing Internet world. Internet is to become the most important source of information. We shall keep ourselves Bulgarian, not ‘com’-belonging, or something like this. It is a shame! Let the govenment and the Natioanl assembly issue a proper act considering the
written by: Ivelin Stoianov
stoianov@let.rug.nl[Thu Mar 5 02:29:00 1998]
Imam wypros kym wsichki ISP ot Sofia — ako DigSys bqha sofiiska firma, shtqhte li da protestirate taka uporito? Ako CIT ili BOL otgowarqha za towa, a ne warnenskite DigSys, maj shtqhte da platite, no w sluchaq spored men neshtata opirat do towa, che warnenci sa “shefowete”.. Wypros kym nick@euroiffice.bg –> Kato tolkowa iskate da imate .bg domain, zashto ne pishete na bylgarski, a na angliski?
written by: Todor Petkov
tpetkov@yahoo.com[Sat Mar 7 01:19:19 1998]
DIGSYS, NE WI PRAVI CHEST DA SI PYLNITE KASATA ZA SMETKA NA ISP I FIRMI OT CIALA BULGARIA. PREDLAGAM PREMAHVANE ILI NAMALENIE NA GODISHNITE TAXI DO RAZMER 20 USD, PRI BAZOVA TAXA: 25 USD.
written by: George
visiobul@yahoo.com[Tue Mar 17 15:12:01 1998]
written by: Nikolay Niagolov
niky@jambol.bse.bg[Wed Mar 18 17:35:43 1998]
The “F” word!
written by: Goshko ot prokazkite
ass@aol.com[Fri Mar 20 01:50:00 1998]
Reply to Mr. Todor Petkov: we are all writing in English here, because the discussion is in that language (see the top of this page). We have a .bg domain, because we are a 100% bulgarian company. Our US mirror will have .com. And, BTW, nobody before you has mentioned that DigSys are from Varna. Maybe YOU have a problem with this? We’re dealing with unfair BUSINESS practice here, not with PROVINCIAL disgrace.
written by: Nick Spirov, EuroOffice Ltd
nick@eurooffice.bg[Sat Mar 21 15:36:56 1998]
Mislq che trqbwa da se pla]a za .bg domain,no sys sigurnost ne na towa iuridichesko lice t.e. na Digital System. Organizaciqta na koqto trqbwa da se pla]a trqbwa da byde s idealna cel. I parite da ne otiwat w dvoba na opredelen ISP i postawqneto na drugite ISP w po neizgodna poziciq. Koeto w nastoq]iqt etap e chista proba neloqlna konkurenciq.
written by: Michael Pounov
maniac@netbg.com[Thu Mar 26 14:24:25 1998]
Az sushto se prisaediniavam kum ostanalite protestirashti, zashtoto mi pisna ot vsichki monopolisti i obirdzii v Bulgaria !!! Triabva da ima loialna konkurencia ako iskame nashata strana da varvi napred !
written by: Alexander Plamenov
alexpleven@yahoo.com[Wed Apr 1 16:49:25 1998]
F@*kin’ monopolists…
written by: Victor Alexandrov
hipodilski@usa.net[Fri Apr 3 02:00:16 1998]
———- > From: Daniel Kalchev > To: ironcode@leff.bulnet.bg; daniel@digsys.bg > Subject: BG-NIC > Date: 04 February 1998 22:45 > > G-n Jordanov, > > Ako wie naistina ste pisali towa, naqsno li ste, che InterNIC e chastna > organizaciq, narechena “Network Solutions, Inc”, koqto izpolzwa imeto > InterNIC za da oboznachi i
written by: Stoian Iordanov
ironcode@bulnet.bg[Fri Apr 3 02:09:02 1998]
izwyrshwanata usluga, kakto Cifrowi Sistemi > upotrebqwa BG-NIC za syshtata cel? > > Pisha wi towa, zashtoto mozhe da se okazhe, che ste edin ot horata (ne > chak tolkowa mnogo na broj wse pak), koito sa se podweli po prikazkite > na Veni Markovski. > > Ako imate konkretni pretencii kym Cifrowi Sistemi (kato BG-NIC), ne > smqtate li, che e po-podhodeshto da se opitat
written by: Stoyan Iordanov
ironcode@bulnet.bg[Fri Apr 3 02:15:16 1998]
opitate da razberete poziciqta na > BG-NIC, predi da prawite publichni izkazwaniq ot tozi rod – mozhe da se > okazhe che wie syshto ste obekt na manipulaciq… > > Koe spored was prawi BG-NIC, bez syotwetnite pylnomoshtiq? > > Daniel Kalchev > BG-NIC, Digital Systems >
written by: Stoyan Iordanov
ironcode@bulnet.bg[Fri Apr 3 02:31:53 1998]
Mr. Kalchev, in your letter from 4.Feb (see above), you told me that I didn’t know how the things were and explained me about Network Solutions, Inc., holding InterNIC. I admit that things were not clear to me then. But now, after they are, I would like to ask you the following: have you read the recent (and not so recent) news? Are you aware of the fact that Network Solutions, Inc. are also subject to discussion from
written by: Stoyan Iordanov
ironcode@bulnet.bg[Fri Apr 3 02:37:24 1998]
many worldwide organizations about their monopole situation and that there is possibility of changing their bussiness politic? The same is now happening to BG-NIC.
written by: Stoyan Iordanov
ironcode@bulnet.bg[Fri Apr 10 01:36:43 1998]
Something that might be interesting: http://cnnfn.com/digitaljam/9804/09/domain/ Court nixes ‘Net name fee But nine other counts against Network Solutions are dismissed; shares up April 9, 1998: 3:21 p.m. ET
written by: Nickolay Pepelishev
cmage@declera.com[Fri Apr 10 02:05:38 1998]
Ne znam dali parite, koito poluchava vuprosnata firma sa dostatuchni za da se razviva i produlzava da osiguriava podobni uslugi, no dori i da ne e taka, tova ne opravdava podobni deistvia…
written by: Stefan KOSTADINOV
kostadinowww@usa.net[Fri Apr 10 21:22:50 1998]
FUCK YOU DANIEL! FUCK DIGSYS!
written by: Ivan Pashov
jp@mbox.cit.bg[Fri Apr 10 21:24:47 1998]
FUCK MY SELF! FUCK MY OWN COMPANY!!! I HATE YOU ALL!!!
written by: daniel kalchev
daniel@digsys.bg[Thu Apr 23 15:59:23 1998]
– – ->>> In God i trust and in FREEDOM i believe < << - - - But such a companies like "Digital Systems - Varna " are near to the dictatorship countries, not to democracy ! This is because our "democratic" government and some high-persons in that government, are not only supporting DigSys but are staying behind them! .BG is one of the nacional symbols of Bulgaria and shall stay nacional! written by: Sir Ilia (666) Sir_Ilia@usa.net [Thu Apr 30 13:59:42 1998] Opredeleno ne sum suglasen s poziciata na DIGSYS, no edva li tova e nachina. Vse pak mi e chudno dali niakoi ne se e opital po kakuvto i da e nachi da sezira "Komisiata za zashtita na konkurenciata". Puk bilo to i polu-zakonen, t.e. kakto stavat neshtata v BG, chrez motiviraneto na zaiteresovan durzhaven sluzhitel. Ne sum privurzhenik na takiva deistvia, to tuk vse oshte te POMAGAT :(. S gornoto ne iskam da obidia nikogo, razb written by: Sunny i.milenov@usa.net [Thu Apr 30 14:05:55 1998] The possition of DIGSYS is quite clear: In GOD we trust! All other - PAY CASH!!!!!! :))) written by: Sunny i.milenov@usa.net [Tue May 12 13:12:30 1998] Razmishliavaiki ot razstoianie, zastoto ziveja v U.S.A. mi se struva absurdno tova, koeto ceta za taksite. V nikoia civilizovana strana ne bi se dopusnalo takova moshenicestvo. written by: Dragomir Ganev visa1@ix.netcom.com [Fri May 22 02:40:29 1998] Digsys' authority to operate as registrars should be confirmed/rejected by the KPD (Komitet za poshti i dalekosuobstenia), probably thru a licensing procedure. Minor changes in a Council of Ministers' act are required. The national TLDA may or may not remain Digsys. written by: Yavor Angelov yavor@capital.bg [Tue Aug 25 14:45:07 1998] 50 $ should be for 50 years! Seriosly- all the users and developers should elect an non-profit organization for the administering of the domain. I gave my iname.com address, because my BULGARIAN ISP is not in the .bg domain(Shame, ain't it!) written by: Vladimir Petrov bjtrink@iname.com [Tue Aug 25 14:45:21 1998] 50 $ should be for 50 years! Seriosly- all the users and developers should elect an non-profit organization for the administering of the domain. By the way- I gave my iname.com address, because my BULGARIAN ISP is not in the .bg domain(Shame, ain't it!) written by: Vladimir Petrov bjtrink@iname.com [Tue Sep 8 16:45:43 1998] Za naglostta na Bylgarskite ISP W Bulgaria standartnata cena za mesec neogranicen dostyp (neogranicen spored razbiraniqta na konkretniq ISP - varira mezdu 25 casa i naistina neogranicen) e $25 bez DDS. Kakwo se krie zad tazi cena? Cenata na edin specialist kojto da poddyrza sistemata otwreme nawreme (kogato ne e w sesiq) e ne powece ot $300 dolara na mesec. Cenata na edin "server" sybiran ot otpadyci (kakywto written by: [Tue Sep 8 17:04:55 1998] OK here we go in English The average end-user price for "unlimited" internat access charged by Bulgarian ISP is $25 excl VAT (22%). It's a regular practice in Bulgaria to show prices exclusive of VAT. Perhaps they believe people cannot count. For those of you who really don't understand Bulgarian some of the following figures may seem bizzare. They are not mistaken. They are true. The average salary of a internet written by: [Tue Sep 8 17:31:48 1998] The average salary of a internet specialist in Bulgaria is $3000 PA The average price in Bulgaria of what Bulgarian ISP consider as "Internet Sever" is $2000. The average rent for a 3000sq.ft. office in Bulgaria is $200 pm The average service quality of the Bulgarian ISP's is crap The average Bulgarian support specialist is a dodgy teenager who shove tho weeks ago, smells of booze and looks on you as if you owe written by: [Tue Sep 8 17:32:12 1998] The average salary of a internet specialist in the UK is $60000 PA The average price in the UK of a machine, good enough for Internet sever is $35000. The average rent for a 3000sq.ft. office in Bulgaria is $4000 pm The support is permanent and reliable. The employees are Friendly, something, you'll hardly get in BG. written by: [Tue Sep 8 17:32:52 1998] One would say in the latter case the end-user price would be higher. Yes, but No, as that Bulgarian TV presenter used to say. For details of the second option price (surprisingly, lower) check http://www.ukonline.co.uk/ This is just one example. Randomly chosen British ISP. Search the web for others. You'll be surprised. For those of you who can't connect there due to their ISP's quality I am po written by: [Tue Sep 8 17:38:47 1998] The UK Online unlimited account What's included in the package Cost:?11.99 per month, including VAT;.Setup fee:None;Number of usernames:1;Coverage:100% UK coverage at local call rates;Hours available:Unlimited; Web space available:Unlimited, at no extra cost; Contd. written by: [Tue Sep 8 17:39:10 1998] Free software supplied PC/Mac: CD-ROM or floppy disk availableInternet Explorer 4.01 (on CD-ROM only - version 4.0 supplied for Mac) ; Microsoft Outlook Express (on CD-ROM only) ; Internet Explorer 3.02A ; Microsoft Internet Mail ; Microsoft Internet News ; Kali demo (on CD-ROM only) ; Open Transport (Mac only) Acorn:; floppy disk onlyANT Fresco 1 month trial ; written by: [Tue Sep 8 17:39:33 1998] Plus unlimited free access to UK Online's extensive online software libraries for PC, Mac, Amiga and Psion. Connection speedModem up to 56k, or ISDN at no extra cost.Limit on email stored/handledNone.Email forwardingNo extra cost.Cost to send or receive emailNone.Telephone support24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Strangely enough the price is 12GBP ($19), you can call from all over UK at the price of a loc written by: [Sat Oct 3 20:07:47 1998] I don't quite understand the point of the person who posted the message on Sep. 8th. It seems (s)he doesn't know that the international satellite link from Bulgaria to any normal country is tens of thousands of US$ a month! written by: [Tue Oct 6 20:25:31 1998] >[Fri May 22 02:40:29 1998] >Digsys’ authority to operate as registrars should be >confirmed/rejected by the KPD (Komitet za poshti i >dalekosuobstenia), probably >thru a licensing procedure. Minor changes in a Council of >Ministers’ act are required. The national TLDA may or may >not remain >Digsys. >written by: Yavor Angelov >yavor@capital.bg
KPD is not the organ
written by: who knows
anyone@anywhere.bg[Tue Oct 6 20:27:01 1998]
KPD is not the organization who will/must regulate the NET! If they try something – ok – then there will be no NET in Bulgaria!!!
written by: who knows
anyone@anywhere.bg[Fri Nov 6 16:23:05 1998]
written by:
[Mon Feb 15 16:52:30 1999]
12312
written by: 1231
13213[Mon Oct 4 09:32:42 1999]
Opredeleno registrazijata na .bg domains yrabva da se poddarzha ot nonprofit organization… ( ste bade mnogo hubavo i za USA).Spezialno za BG (kadeto vseki gleda v panizata na drugite)ste bade naj dobre..No ne znam koj ste varshi vsichko tova za bez, ili srestu malko, pari ( Oste po-malko kato ledam imenata(osobeno familnite:) na horata izrazililmnenie predi mene) i barzo, i kachestveno. OK, koj iska da varshi t
written by: Ilia Petkov
ipetkov@rmi.net[Wed Dec 22 15:21:31 1999]
Bez comentar.
written by: Emo ……. ………
tomov@inet.bg[Mon Mar 27 04:04:35 2000]
Digger Systems sa lajna bre, ko im se chudite tolkoz… Trnsltd: DigSys are nothing but a shit I think, and u?..
written by: ArtK
hmm.hmmm@ihate.org[Thu Apr 6 02:15:15 2000]
Mnogo mi e 4udno kakvo tolkova obsygdate tezi domeini i koi e otoriziran s tova. Ako BOL imaha tova pravo niamashe da e taka SYS SIGURNOST. Ama stoto VMarcovski ne e tozi koito dyrgi registraciite i go 4ovyrka mnogo. Po- nagore niakoi kazvashe 4e ste provokirani – ami zamislete se malko be hora. Niamam nisto obsto s DygSys i kato prestanete da gledate postoianno v kan4eto na druga moge i dyrgavata da se opravi
written by: niakoi
pishi tuk[Sat Apr 22 14:12:25 2000]
like the economic in bulgaria, the internet is awful 🙂 digsys work really slow. and the charge for domain is higher than the intenic. and they don’t give you comfortable support and management for the domains. even their link outside Bulgaria i slow. slower than SPNET, GOCIS, LIREX and Orbitel. that means slower domain resolving from outside BG. then becomes the question “why DigSys think that they are more than the othe
written by: Screamer
screamer@webgate.bg[Wed Jul 26 17:44:05 2000]
DigSYS suxs a lot 🙂 We do not need *.bg for that reason
written by: Todor Neshev
sani@shells.go-link.net[Sun Oct 14 17:56:24 2001]
You can have .co.uk domain for 0.50 per month. Why that is not possible for .bg domains? www.uk2.net
written by: SlaveinoStudios
sstudios@gbg.bg[Mon Jul 14 16:45:31 2003]
it been nice knowing your site it very appreciated i will tell people about ur site it is nice seeing a site like this.
written by: joy ojo
joyola12@yahoo.com[Sun Apr 17 16:18:32 2005]
V texta na dogovora pi6e, 4e .bg domain ne nosi otgovornost za ni6to ,po negova vina. Tova e smehotvorno !!!
written by: toppop
toppopbg[Wed Oct 12 16:20:22 2005]
I think Digsys should charge what they want for the .bg domain names and I have no problem with that. I would like them however to have a more reasonable fee for personal use that will promote the larger use of the .bg names. I’d rather pay a bulgarian company than Yahoo for a domain name if Digsys lowers the fees. That being said I think more companies should be given the right to sell .bg names which will break Digsys monopole.
written by: Atanas
naskop@yahoo.com
Thanks for this historical reference. A question that I have for you is the following. Knowing what you know today, do you still believe in the original statement that you signed approximately ten years ago? If there has been any changes in your viewpoint over the years, could you perhaps explain the background behind the changes in your viewpoints if any.
Mike,
this was indeed written 10 years ago, and their price was ridiculous – $ 180 for the first two years, and $ 60 / year after that. Today they charge Euro 30 (which is almost the same, sigh).
They were also the first ISP in the country, and it was not a big secret that the amount of money they were collecting were used to cover the expenses of their offices. In fact, we filed a case at the Fair Trade Commission (we lost it; the FTC didn’t know what the Internet was), and they admitted that in order to server their customers, they will need an office in each of the regional cities in Bulgaria (28 of them).
The results today are that the number of domains in the .bg are still around the number which existed in the beginning – around 6-7 thousand. And there are more than I think about 100,000 in the .com, .net, .org, .info, .eu…
Even some of the Bulgarian newspapers showed up as http://www.segabg.com, http://www.novinar.org, http://www.standartnews.com, http://www.zone168.com, etc!
And in order to obtain a domain, (or God forbid – to transfer one!) one still needs tons of documentation. I have had this experience in March, where to transfer a domain between two companies, it took about a week; several visits to their office, one or two visits to a private notary for certification of the documents signed; one visit to the City Court to obtain “current status” of the companies (a completely fake term, as there’s no such thing as “current status” – between issuing the document from the court, and its self-accepted “expiration date” of 6 months by the .bg registry this company can be long time with different management), etc., etc….
So, what changed? I know there are commercial registrants today, and they did not exist 10 years ago (or at least not in these huge numbers).
The other thing that changed is that almost none of the people who signed is still running the same companies…
Veni,
It is always entertainig to see what your wording and viewpoint when you speak with someone in person is, and what you tell everyone else behind their back.
The .BG domain is growing at a rate of around 210% yearly now. The number of registered domains is small, thanks to your personal efforts, started some 10 years ago.
Again, thanks to you pushing people away from .BG there are so many useless registrations of names like company-bg.com.
You could never understand, even after spending few years at ICANN (you perhaps expected to be able to influnce a redelegation of .BG there?) that each ccTLD operates under the jurisdiction/laws/conditions that exist in their countries. Or at least, this is the intended/proper way they function. What this means is that if the .BG Registry has been slow to adopt certain technologies it was because of lack of local support and lack of proper legislation.
You also often fail to admit that since 2001 the .BG Registry is an separate company, independent from Digital Systems.
You mention some publications that question the .BG registry’s practices, but isn’t it curious that these all mention you as the authoritative source of opinion?
Nevertheless, you can hardly deny that the .BG Registry is one of the most advanced registries TODAY. Since 2006 it has fully automatic registration system, Registry – Registrar system, is one of the DNSSEC pioneers (again, and still the only one with fully automatic DNSSEC registration system), has lead the IDN ccTLD fast track process etc.
If the Registry had any positive support trough the years by government, and non-profit companies like your ISOC-BG things m,ight have happened much earlier. But as you saw yourself, we have the suport of our user community and this is what matters after all.
Good luck in your quests.
I am not sure if the above is written by Daniel himself, as the IP address is from somewhere in Sweden, but since there are relevant points, they need to be addressed.
I don’t believe I say something different to you, and behind your back. Or, for that matter, behind anyone’s back. This is an old entry, 10 years old, and you are facing it with arguments of today? I just decided to publish it here again, as the server where it originally was, is not under my control anymore (bol.bg is not owned by me, as you know).
To say that I have expected to influence redelegation, while I was at ICANN… just shows lack of knowledge how ICANN works – it’s a pity, because the organization is quite transparent. But, then, I should not be surprised, considering the fact how you implemented the payments in 1998, how you’ve been changing the rules of the .bg registration (secretly, no public discussion), and how quickly you forget that in 2000 you were part of a team that came with set of rules, which were publicly discussed, and accepted by the government as consensus. I see that today, 8 years later, you have adopted some of the articles in these rules. There are some more left, and you will be complete. Only 10 years later. It seems everything is quite delayed at your company, and that would have been your own problem, if it was not for the registration of domain names, which tens of thousands of people have to do at .com, .net, .org and other domains, but not .bg – and not because I was lobbying them to do it. If I was so efficient to persuade so many people to do something, I would have scored better at the mayor’s elections in 2003 in Sofia 😉 The truth is that your policies made the people register domain names anywhere, but .bg.
But I find it news, that you are leading the IDN ccTLD fast track process. Are you sure we talk about .bg, or about .ru ccTLDA?
As for your statement, that I can not understand that each ccTLD operates under the jurisdiction/laws/conditions that exist in their countries, you are right – I can not, and here’s why: because when we won the case at the Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) at the 3-judge panel against the Commission for Protection of Competition, the same court, but in a 5-judge panel decided that RFC-1591 is not to be implemented in Bulgaria. Only several people, among them probably some judges from Varna, know what exactly happened within the walls of the SAC then, and why they 5-judge panel decided – contrary to their colleagues – that the RFC are not enough to describe how the Internet works 🙂
Veni, to your surprise, I have always known how ICANN works. I witnessed its creation, observed its development, rises and falls. From time to time helped with advice. Who knows, I may even see ICANN’s end. This has nothing to do with this 10 years old story you try to tell people over and over (again).
I have stated several times, that I had not participated in your ‘public’ development of ‘new’ registration procedures for BG. ‘new’, because these were essentially a copy of the then current registration policy of the BG Registry — the only difference was that the new procedure required the creation of new Registry. No reference to laws, vague mention of ‘dispute resolution’ etc. You wanted me to ‘participate’, on paper so that you may claim whatever you want later? I told you then, this is not going to work.
I see your point — the BG Registry never acknowledged your competence or authority to provide adequate advice for the policy development process. This is why you are not invited to participate in the process. Probably this is because you have been telling people things about the registry, that exist only in your imagination.
This applies to your statements about the Commission for protection of competition and the Supreme Court too. You fail to tell people the truth: you actually sued the Commission and THEY won against you in the Supreme Court. Funny, why you have to resort to this tactics…. “Varna” has nothing to do here.
I have only one issue with you Veni: you are telling stories that involve me, that are far, far away from the truth.
For the record, if you have not put so much efforts to fight with the BG Registry and you have not involved that many people in this process, up to and including government officials, the BG Registry could have had the current rules years ago.
PS: The IP address in my previous post was Swedish, because I was typing the response at the .SE’s organized DNSSEC conference in Stockholm. By the way, I am typing this from the ICANN conference in Cairo, in case you wonder.
P.S. The entry, btw, was published here just so that we’ll have a copy, as the bol.bg copy may disappear. You never discussed the fact that it is a declaration signed by about 30 people, but instead you prefer to discuss… me?!?
You must think I must be a very influential people, if I have somehow made these people sign something that they don’t agree with…
Danbo,
this is really becoming funnier with every note you post. You claim that you know how ICANN works, yet you miss the point which I was telling you:
You said, and I quote, “you perhaps expected to be able to influnce a redelegation of .BG there [at ICANN]?“, and I was referring to the fact that from this sentence alone it seems you don’t understand how ICANN works, if you believe I was elected to the Board, or joined the Board with this “expectation”.
You may have stated several times (don’t know where and to whom) why you decided to withdraw your participation from the working group that developed the new rules (and you participated in some of the sessions in the beginning), but nevertheless, they were developed, and they were not at all “a copy of the then current registration policy”. For people who speak Bulgarian, they can read not only the rules, but also the discussion on them here. For the record, the current rules, the past rules, the first rules of the current ccTLD have never gone through a public discussion, whatsoever. But again, that’s the status quo, and that’s your right to make it this way. Perhaps when other people and organizations start to feel the results of your work (e.g. compare obb.bg with ubb.bg, for the non-Bulgarian speakers, the first site is using that it sounds like the latter one, which is a legitimate bank).
As for my point, which, I have to admit, “see”, I have left Bulgaria for quite a while now, and to seek my personal motivation behind the many failures of the registry, is naive, if not misleading.
As for the Supreme Court, perhaps you are not aware of all things happening inside the company, where you are a partner – that’s normal. I never said that it was you who did something, and for some reasons you consider that I am saying something about you, personally. The facts from that case are clear, I know what happened, and if I had the motives you claim falsely I have, then there would have been other cases at the Supreme Court. But I only go to court, when I trust the justice. When I know that someone from Varna can influence a court decision, I’d never go again to that court for the same question.
So, Danbo, you at least admit that you have an issue with me – the fact that you believe I tell stories about you, while I tell stories about the way life is in Bulgaria, that indeed is an issue. Your own one. I don’t have anything to do with your doubts, suspicious, etc. On the contrary, you may find out that I have spoken very highly of you personally, as one of the best engineers in the country. Which, of course, doesn’t mean I must speak so highly of the way your company was being run, when you were competitors of bol.bg, and was using tactics which one could argue are quite fair. But, again, that’s something which was so long ago, that to think I’m still thinking about it, is ridiculous.
And finally, for the record – I don’t know when the BG Registry could have had the new rules ready and published. For me, as a citizen, these rules are created by people who I don’t know, in secrecy, without any public participation. If you have published them, as for example, the government does with their draft laws, I personally, and ISOC-Bulgaria, probably could have participated in the drafting – the same way we do with laws, ordinances, regulations. But you have not done that, and therefore your claims about why you are late in implementing new ideas into your rules can serve only your own, narrow interests, but not the interests of the society.
At this point, I think that it is time to put an end to a 10-year discussion, and let me be very clear why: I personally don’t want to be the Bulgarian ccTLD manager or admin contact. Unlike other people, I’ve put the ISP business behind me, after 15 years of running with Mitko Ganchev bol.bg, and I don’t plan to go back there. And I have stated on a number of occasions, that I am not interested in participating in the .bg ccTLD business.