[ga] Draft Resolution

[DPF <david@farrar.com>]

It is obvious from both the quantitative and qualitative posts that
there is much more support for the status quo agreement over the
proposed changes.  The various polls being run will give us some idea
of the numbers - I would like to focus on getting a resolution which
as many people as possible can agree to which details why we oppose
the proposed changes.

My draft is below.  It is just my draft and maximum feedback is
encouraged.  Hopefully we can sort the wording out within 3 days or so
and then see how many people we can sign up to support it.  If we get
a comprehensive resolution some constituency reps may even want to use
it within their constituencies (if they agree with basic thrust).

DRAFT RESOLUTION

That the General Assembly of the DNSO of ICANN opposes ICANN
rescinding the current TLD registry contract with Verisign in favour
of the proposed new contract.

The GA opposes the proposed changes because we believe they will not
benefit the Internet Community as a whole, as specified in Article 4
of the ICANN Articles of Association.

Specifically we believe the proposed changes overall significantly
increase the risk of monopolistic behaviour and reduce competition.
The combination of allowing Verisign to both keep its registrar
business and also gain a presumptive right to *.com would put in place
considerable anti competitive incentives.  

The proposed changes are also essentially ir-reversible.  

We believe there is no consensus in the Internet community for these
changes, and in fact on the contrary there is a considerable consensus
against the proposed changes being rushed through in such a short
time-frame.

If the ICANN Board was to agree to such dramatic changes against the
wishes of the DNSO Names Council and constituencies there would be
great damage done not just to competition within the DNS but more
fundamentally to ICANN itself.  The principle of consensus based
decision making which so many hold dear would be shattered possibly
ir-redeemably.

Specific concerns the general assembly has regarding the proposed
contract are:


- The granting of a presumptive right to be the *.com registry to
Verisign.  By lowering the necessary performance standard to retain
*.com *which makes up 65% of all domain names in the world), this
removes a huge pressure on the registry to keep prices as low as
possible and to have the best possible relationship with Registrars
- Allowing Verisign to retain its registrar business puts in place
perverse anti-competitive incentives regardless of organisational
firewalls. 
- Verisign would be in a position where it could purchase other
Registrars thus once again gaining over 50% or even 75% of the
registrar market in *.com, as well as the registry.
- The possibility of a change to the status of *.org registration
- Granting the ability to Verisign to increase registry prices with
only 30 days notice
- The ambiguity over what the $200 million to be invested in registry
development would actually be, and the lack of any clear process to
audit this.  
- The non-transparent process used to negotiate these agreements which
are then presented as not negotiable to the ICANN Board and DNSO
- The detrimental effects on registrars who have become registrars and
invested money on the basis of the existing contract (which mandates
the Verisign registry must divest the registrar business)
- The unfair advantage the Verisign Registrar would gain by being able
to sell domains with a zero wholesale cost, thus potentially forcing
out many smaller competitors
- The total lack of outside analysis on whether the proposed changes
will be beneficial to the Internet community

The General Assembly recognises that parts of the proposed new
contracts would bring benefits to the Internet community.  However the
GA believes that these benefits are minor compared to the
ir-reversible and major drawbacks of the contracts, thus our strong
recommendation is to remain with the existing contract.


DPF
--
david@farrar.com
ICQ 29964527
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