Re: [ga-roots] Re: ICANN Policy -- revised version

[Simon Higgs <simon@higgs.com>]

Stuart,

>****To put it another way. ICANN has no policy asserting that it will give 
>credit to any TLD created outside of ICANN's processes. Which means 
>precisely that ICANN can give no credit to any TLD created outside of 
>ICANN's processes. Which is what I wrote.

Two questions -

         1. Is it now ICANN policy that all TLDs currently functioning 
outside the ICANN process are automatically excluded from consideration the 
US Government root? Can you document that?
         2. What about those TLDs created inside the IANA process, which 
ICANN is contractually accountable for?

>*****By my reading, however, the White Paper does in fact provide guidance 
>on this point. It repeatedly refers to the need for decisions about new 
>TLDs to be coordinated in a way that is accountable to the community (in 
>so many words). Simply allowing any alternate root to preempt names hardly 
>sounds like such accountability to me. What would stop such a root from 
>choosing all the nouns in Webster's and any other dictionary to preempt 
>future competition? Where would community accountability and coordination 
>be in such a case?

An incorrect fear-driven and reactionary response to a problem with a 
pre-existing solution. Are you trying to tell us that ICANN has already 
reserved all possible TLD strings to prevent future competition? Can you 
document that?

>*****We now have interesting situations where, quite independently of 
>ICANN, there is conflict between most of new.net's names and names in 
>other alternate roots. This is the expected result of a regime where 
>root-zone decisions are made in an uncoordinated fashion by companies 
>based on their individual commercial concerns. Given the incentive for a 
>better-financed commercial actor to muscle aside a weaker one, the result 
>of this lack of coordination is name conflicts that certainly does not 
>make for a stable DNS.

Having spoken several times to New.net, they appear ready and willing to 
discuss and resolve this situation. This is 180 degrees from ICANN's 
position of refusing to seek any resolution.

>****Perhaps the language in my draft needs to be clarified and indeed 
>strengthened in this regard. I'll take a look at it. Thank you for making 
>the point.

I suggest you take the "practical" approach and do everything you can to 
make the alternate roots illegal. Why not go all they way and ask for the 
death penalty for all the @Large users using alternate DNS?


Best Regards,

Simon

--
"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, and
then you win. And once you have won, they join you." - Mahatma Gandhi

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