[NA-Discuss] Request to have a Fast Track PDP initiated

[Evan Leibovitch]

On 30 November 2010 11:48, Bob Bruen <naralo at coldrain.net> wrote:


> In my opinion, there is an inherent tension between any business and the
> public interest.


I'd say that it often exists, but this dynamic is not "inherent" beyond the
tension involved in buyers wanting lowest-possible prices and sellers
wanting highest-possible.
If a transaction between business and consumer satisfies both, there is
little tension.


> In the case that Danny pointed out, the registrar has an unfair advantage,
> because they are the registrar. In a normal business situation, a business
> sells a good or service based on market pressures, which determines pricing.
> In a monopoly, the price is determined by the monopoly holder, clearly an
> unfair advantage and the reason why monopolies are controlled by
> governments.
>

Agreed so far. But the monopolies in domain space are purely artificial.
Unlike real estate, the available namespace could increase massively
overnight, if the floodgates for TLD applicants opened tomorrow. I would
make barriers to creating a TLD lower than are being proposed.

I really don't care who is doing the hoarding, whether it's registry,
registrar or end-user domainer. To me, that's a turf war between rival gangs
and I don't care who gets bloodied more when they fight. The end-user, and
the registrants who actually want to put domains to use, are the only real
targets of any "unfairness", and domainers are as much a part of the problem
as any contracted party. I don't see domainers as any more or less ethical
than registries or registrars; it's the hoarding itself that I oppose.

IMO, the Internet domain should be subject to use-it-or-lose-it regulations,
using concepts already applied globbally to that other identify-based
concept of property, the trademark. If I had my own way, registrants would
have a certain amount of time to provide original content under their domain
or it would go back into the 'available' pool. (And by "original content" I
don't mean that embarrassment of the Internet known as the "park page".) A
domain with original content behind it could be resold but not one that was
unused, went to a park page, or "under construction".

I want to see lots more TLDs -- and if I had my way I'd have ICANN do a
publicity campaign to promote the diversity of TLDs, and by inference get
the public away from the notion that there's a "default" TLD that everyone
should aspire to have.

To me, this -- elimination the of TLD scarcity, combined with the reduction
in fears against using a TLD that's not .COM or one's own CC -- is the best
way to deal with domain hoarding. Drop the bottom out of the market and make
speculation too risky for all but the most sure-thing sellers. If a registry
and/or registrars conspire to create scarcity in a TLD, have enough
alternative TLDs available so that nobody will be hurt by that one
particular scarcity. And combine that with tough regulations on renewal
behavior and pricing.

Just my two cents with an admittedly minority stance. Maybe that publicity
campaign is doable, at least.

- Evan