Re: [ga] Re: Board descisions

[david@farrar.com]

Dave Crocker wrote:

> The Names Council spent all of its time complaining about the process and 
> timing of the proposed new Verisign contract.  They spent no time at all 
> considering the actual merits of the proposal.
> 
> Hence they chose to provide no constructive input to the ICANN Board.

That is not the case at all.  The input was very clearly that it is 
unacceptable to ask for the Names Council to gain a consensus on the issue in 
such a small time-frame - a time-frame which has not been mandated by the Board 
but purely at the whim of the staff.  The fact there is a final deadline of 18 
May has been known for 18 months and if NSI and the staff wanted changes they 
should have finished negiotating them earlier.  
 
>  From an individual staff consultant, such dereliction of duty would not be 
> tolerated.

Possibly you fail to grasp the significance of the ICANN bylaws with regards to 
the DNSO and the diffeerence between it and a staff member.  A staff member can 
put forward viewpoints and argue a position with no need to consult anyone at 
all.  The Names Council are not there to argue their 21 different personal 
prejudices about this proposal.  They are there to represent and articulate the 
consensus of the DNSO and their constituencies.  Now that takes time.
 
> 
> >so the question is : why cancel the rules which had the success
> >they were made for ? because of the success ?
> 
> Because the current contract grossly favors Verisign, to the detriment of 
> the community.  

Yet the proposed changes appear to favour Verisign many time more.  Verisign 
basically get two major wins
1) Keep their registrar business (which despite falling market share is still 
the largest and incredibly profitable)
2) Gain a presumptive right to *.com for all eternity

In return they give up early *.org and *.net.  While this is of some benefit it 
is my opinion that the amounts involved here are basically chicken feed 
compared to *.com.  

> As you cite the greatly reduced price for a registration, 
> such as the excellent price from your own joker.com (that I have used 
> multiple times) let us note that the registry price is still a factor of 
> 3-6 times higher than it should be.

And the proposed new contract will allow NSI to increase prices for *.com in 
future and even worse by removing a tender process in 2007, gets rid of the 
best competitive pressure one could have tpo reduce prices in future.
 
> Another example of the gross disproportion:  Verisign has 3 TLDs when other 
> registries have (will have) only one.

While it is nice to separate the three out, the price is far too high and more 
to the point it is too early to know if such a move is prudent.
 
> A contract which brings Verisign closer -- no doubt not as close as we all 
> would like, but still, closer -- to being treated the same as any other 
> gTLD registry should be automatically appealing.

At the moment every other registry has zero entries in it and NSI has 20 
million or so.  While in a year or two when they are fully functioning and 
providing competition to *.com we could look at bringing them all into line, 
but to move *.com to a model which is as yet totally untested seems foolish.
 
> We need to be very careful to consider the importance of rejecting the 
> proposed contract.  For example, if we reject a proposal that largely 
> "regularizes" the arrangement with Verisign, imagine how much stronger 
> Verisign's legal position becomes when they need to defend the 
> disproportionate advantages they were granted in the current contract.

The proposed changes give Verisign even more disproportionate advanatges and 
gives the Internet community very little.  There is no cost benefit analysis of 
the proposal, no figures on how it will affect ICANN's finances, no costs on 
whether it would mean price increases for *.org (very very possible) etc.
 
> Let's all try to focus on the real content of the proposed contract, rather 
> than being distracted by inevitable imperfections of process.

I've re-read the proposals multiple times and I can see no appeal at all in 
them.  I think it would be dangerous to have the staff rush ICANN into 
endorsing them without proper scrutiny.

DPF

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