[NA-Discuss] More evidence of the decline of "memorable" domains

Thu Jan 28 19:50:53 UTC 2021

Claudio,

Could you clarify your point?

Domain names have already been allocated.

Domain names serve as online brands and help businesses connect with their
customers/clients.  Imagine the impact on Twitter if it had continued using
its original domain name twttr.com and had not acquired twitter.com from
the bird lover who had originally registered it, or if some other company
had built a business on the Twitter.com domain name.  Some may not
understand the value of the benefits that businesses receive from using
meaningful domain names, but that does not deter businesses from making
sensible investments in acquiring those domain names.

Abusive use of domain names is already addressed through the UDRP and the
URS in addition to national laws.  ICANN just concluded a four-year
intensive review of the URS and is about to embark on an intensive review
of the UDRP.

The most obvious way that ICANN's allocation of domain names harms the
public welfare is the nearly billion dollar excess cost imposed on all .com
registrants due to ICANN's failure to put the registry service contract for
managing .com out for bid - as other ccTLD national authorities do as a
matter of minimally competent administration for the public benefit.

Regards,

Nat Cohen

On Thu, Jan 28, 2021 at 2:30 PM claudio di gangi <ipcdigangi at gmail.com>
wrote:

> all,
>
> In doing a quick online search, I came across this old CircleId article
> that included, what appeared to be, a relevant quote (pasted below). In any
> case, this appeared to be a very brief article that barely scratches the
> surface.
> http://www.circleid.com/posts/speculation_and_investment_in_domain_names/
>
> quoting the author: "Thus, buying and selling domain names are
> speculative investments that can create, destroy, or transfer value."
>
> In 2021, we are all aware of how Org's budget has expanded over the years
> (I believe now in excess of over US 100M), yet there appears to be a
> shortcoming in the collection of empirical data and market research on some
> of the most fundamental matters which fall under ICANN's public trust
> commitments. In this regard, I am reminded of Evan's previous comments on
> the essential role of the at-large community in both educating and
> informing gTLD policy development as being particularly  pertinent to this
> discussion. For example, here are a few topics which I believe that
> progress could be made through the commissioning of (truly) independent
> study, research, and analysis:
>
>    - From an economic perspective, what market failures or needs do
>    domain names address (e.g. can short, concise identifiers, effectively
>    improve communication, and within a certain context, reduce searching
>    costs). On this basis, how should the gTLD space be optimally structured to
>    help ensure that domain names are able to meet these market failures/needs.
>
>
>    - How can the allocation of domain names harm public welfare and
>    simultaneously impose significant social costs on Internet users and the
>    consuming public. As the public steward of the DNS, what measures should
>    ICANN be employing to  address DNS abuse in legacy and new gTLDs.  What
>    combination of methods (e.g. consensus policies, contracts, market
>    mechanisms, enforcement) can best address and mitigate these consumer harms?
>
>
> Hope helpful...cheers all.
>
>
> On Thu, Jan 28, 2021 at 12:17 PM Nat Cohen <ncohen at telepathy.com> wrote:
>
>> OWG is a new Canadian airline.  Its first commercial flight was last
>> month from your city of Toronto-
>>
>>
>> https://www.flightglobal.com/networks/canadas-owg-launches-with-initial-flight-to-cuba/141682.article
>>
>> OWG.com branding is prominent on the fuselage.  Who sold them the domain
>> name?  I did.
>>
>> [image: image.png]
>>
>> On Thu, Jan 28, 2021 at 12:01 PM Evan Leibovitch <evan at telly.org> wrote:
>>
>>> As I've said before, the greed and rent-seeking of the domain industry
>>> has been doing an excellent job driving both providers and consumers of
>>> Internet services to seek alternatives to "memorable" domain names. Every
>>> Google search and every Facebook corporate page gives people a more-useful
>>> way for people to get what they want from the net.
>>>
>>> One more recent manifestation of this phenomenon caught my eye. Ten
>>> years ago airlines started putting their web domains boldly on the side of
>>> their planes. But now we have this:
>>>
>>> [image: Azores-Airlines-Airbus-A321LR-e1562685732426.jpeg]
>>>
>>> It's on all their planes. and consumers know what to do when they see it.
>>> Use the QR code or search Azores Air.
>>> Who needs to know that it's a Portuguese airline with a .pt domain?
>>> Who needs to care?
>>> The FQDN is in small print while the other access methods predominate.
>>> This is where things are going, folks.
>>> Don't believe the hype. And don't pay the ransom.
>>> Almost everyone who defends the ruse  has a vested interest in
>>> maintaining it.
>>>
>>> Evan Leibovitch, Toronto Canada
>>> @evanleibovitch / @el56
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