[ga] Death Struggle in Name Space

["Patrick Corliss" <patrick@quad.net.au>]

THE FOLLOWING IS MY PERSONAL OPINION - NOT INTENDED TO REPRESENT
THE OFFICIAL POSITION OF TLDA, auDA, ICANN OR ANY OTHER BODY

Hi Sandy

Good analysis.

> I see ICANN dropping .biz as highly unlikely. It is a desirable name, they'd
> almost certainly be sued by the people they just gave it to, and backing down
> on the decision would make them look extremely foolish.

ICANN has sheltered itself from being sued through the division of functions.
They are not the ones loading .biz into the ICANN legacy root.  Cute trick !!

> Methinks the people running the non-ICANN .biz should be trying to arrange
> some sort of deal with the new ICANN .biz folks. The former presumably have
> customers; the latter need customers. Maybe some sort of deal is possible.

You don't quite get the power play here.  If ICANN can get .biz operational they
would effectively kill off the so-called alternate roots.  Who would invest
money in setting up a TLD like .dog or .cat if they knew that ICANN could come
along at any time and just usurp it?

That's why the whole "alternative" community are united in their opposition.

What people forget is the opposite argument.  If ICANN does NOT get .biz
operational then ICANN is effectively beaten back from any alternate TLD which
has been activated.  These are becoming increasingly numerous.  It would mean
that ICANN's scope of operations would become more and more constrained over
time.

Both operators of .biz (legacy and alternate) are just pawns in a death
struggle.

It's more like the "cold war" where neither can win but neither can afford to
lose.  Of  course, like the cold war, the struggle itself might cause one or
other side to collapse internally.   If you look at it realistically, New.Net
shows that it is not easy to call who will be the winner.

As I have argued, the question is "HOW should we resolve the problem of people
setting up
colliding TLDs:

        (a)  Technical
        (b)  Competition
        (c)  Negotiation, Co-operation
        (d)  Regulation
        (e)  Other ?"

It is my view that the answer to this question will determine the future of the
internet.  It is certainly an appropriate policy reference to the General
Assembly or a Working Group.

Best regards
Patrick Corliss



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