[ALAC] Comment on proposal for the removal of existing gTLD-Registrar cross-ownership .

[Alan Greenberg]

I was asked to evaluate whether a comment of the Proposed Revised 
Process for Handling Requests for Removal of Cross-Ownership 
Restrictions on Operators of Existing gTLDs warrants ALAC comment, 
and if so to draft such a comment. Following consultation with 
selected ALAC and At-Large members, I believe that a comment is warranted.

Unfortunately other commitments have prevented me from submitting 
such a comment until today, and the first stage of the comment period 
ends on June 6th.

I would suggest that if there is no substantive ALAC request to not 
submit this comment, that it be submitted prior to the deadline with 
the stated proviso that it is undergoing ALAC comment and approval. 
That would allow the ALAC to revise it if needed, and accept or 
reject it prior to the conclusion of the 2nd phase of the comment period.

The details of the proposal and comment period are at 
http://www.icann.org/en/news/public-comment/revised-cross-ownership-restrictions-16may12-en.htm.

My concern is that one of the options provided is that existing 
registry operators (and specifically .com, .net and .org) can either 
request amendment of their agreements to remove cross-ownership 
restrictions, or can transition  to the agreement to be used by all 
new gTLD operators. If they chose the latter path, along with the 
removal  of the restrictions on cross ownership, they would also 
remove the price caps that are in existing agreements. This I feel 
could be of great detriment to Internet users.

My proposed comment follows.

Alan
==========================

The ALAC and At-Large have multiple opinions on whether the removal 
of Cross-Ownership Restrictions for gTLD Operators will be to the 
benefit or detriment of users, or in fact, the domain ecosystem. 
There is, however, a unified position that whatever the environment 
is, with certain constraints, there should be a level playing field 
for all gTLD operators.

As such, the ALAC supports the removal of cross-ownership constraints 
for existing gTLD operators.

Nevertheless, the ALAC does have one concern with the proposal, and 
that is the option for existing gTLD operators to transition to the 
new gTLD agreement. That transition would be subject to limits 
related to competition issues raised by the removal of the 
cross-ownership restrictions. The document is silent on other results 
of such a transition, and particularly the removal of price caps on 
existing operators.

The ALAC does not believe that there is sufficient proof at this time 
to indicate that the new gTLD environment will so significantly 
change the gTLD market so that price caps are no longer required for 
the dominant gTLDs. As such, no change driven by the removal of 
cross-ownership restrictions should at the same time remove the price 
caps in the current agreements for dominant gTLDs without substantive 
community involvement.