Re: [Re: [ga] SnapNames is now whining to total strangers!]

[Loren Stocker <loren@800.net>]

Rick,

WLS is everybody's problem -- everyone on these relevant lists and everyone
with a domain.

Are you writing your critter?.. Or just suggesting I discuss this elsewhere?

Best, Loren

If you haev a problem I suggest you contact your congress critter (look
them up at http://www.congress.org ) and write letters.

-rick

On Sat, 15 Jun 2002, Loren Stocker wrote:

> Hi All,
>
> Now SnapNames has wrapped themselves in the flag of equal opportunity for
the
> helpless public. Duh?
>
> How is John Q Netizen going to feel about equal access when the same
> speculators put their "substantial cash payments" towards buying all the
best
> WLS options? How naive does Mr. Holmberg think we are?
>
> All that's really needed is for Verisign to take uncertainty out of the
domain
> drops -- shorten the window, publish the times, and let everyone know when
to
> quit. That's transparent, fair, first-come-first-serve, and it's free,
free,
> free!
>
> Best Regards,
>
> Loren Stocker
> www.evil.biz!
>
> PS: We love Snapnames! But they should stay at the Registrar level
> and compete like everyone else -- and quit sucking up to Verisign!
>
> Petition follows>>>
>
> --- kjel holmberg <kjelh@Snapnames.com> wrote:
> > From: kjel holmberg <kjelh@Snapnames.com>
> > To: kjel holmberg <kjelh@Snapnames.com>
> > CC: "'equalaccess@snapnames.com'"
> > <equalaccess@snapnames.com>
> > Subject: Your voice counts right now - sign brief
> > petition for equal acces
> > s to Internet domain names.
> > Date: Thu, 13 Jun 2002 14:03:58 -0700
> >
> >
> > June 12, 2002
> >
> > Dear Domain Name System Users (and Friends of
> > SnapNames),
> >
> > The purpose of this letter is to ask your support
> > for a critical improvement
> > to the domain name system that solves the following
> > problem: Typical domain
> > name users have almost no access to the over 800,000
> > valuable domain names
> > that expire and should be available for
> > re-registration every month.
> >
> > Please take a moment to review the attached
> > petition. If you agree, please
> > reply with comments to:
> >
> > equalaccess@snapnames.com
> > <mailto:equalaccess@snapnames.com>
> >
> > Please reply as soon as possible. The Internet
> > Corporation for Assigned
> > Names and Numbers (ICANN), the domain name
> > industry's oversight
> > organization, will consider this issue at its next
> > meeting, June 24-28.
> > Those opposing your access to previously-owned
> > domain names have made their
> > case strenuously, so it's critical that ICANN hear
> > from supporters of equal
> > access, who have yet to be heard.
> >
> > Thank you for your time and input.
> >
> > Sincerely,
> >
> > SnapNames.com, Inc.
> > Portland, Oregon
> >
> >
> >
> > Please circulate this petition to anyone else who
> > may be concerned about
> > this important issue.
> >
> >
> > P E T I T I O N
> >
> > To the Board of Directors of the Internet
> > Corporation for Assigned Names and
> > Numbers (ICANN):
> >
> > We, the undersigned domain name and Internet users,
> > intellectual property
> > owners, members of the general public, and
> > representatives of the same, are
> > writing to urge the Board of Directors of the
> > Internet Corporation for
> > Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to endorse the
> > proposed Wait Listing
> > Service (WLS) at the ICANN meeting in Bucharest,
> > Romania, June 24-28, 2002.
> >
> > The WLS is a fair and sensible system that lets
> > legitimate mainstream users
> > acquire expiring domain names. The WLS represents a
> > tremendous improvement
> > over the status quo in which a handful of
> > professional domain name buyers
> > purchase preferential access to expiring names from
> > registrars and exclude
> > the general public. The WLS represents the first
> > significant innovation in
> > the domain name system since the establishment of
> > formal Internet
> > governance. The WLS is necessary to ensure the
> > general public equal access
> > to all domain names.
> >
> > There is currently no orderly, transparent, and fair
> > system for allocating
> > the approximately 800,000 domain names that expire
> > every month. Instead,
> > here is how most domain name consumers are locked
> > out today:
> >
> > 1. The registry for .com, .net, and .org deletes
> > expired domain names
> > from its system every day, and places those names
> > into a special pool. All
> > ICANN-accredited domain name registrars have an
> > identical level of access to
> > this pool, regardless of the size of their customer
> > bases.
> > 2. Instead of making access to the deleted name pool
> > available to the
> > general public, some registrars serve only a handful
> > of customers, often in
> > return for substantial cash payments.
> > 3. These privileged customers, using advanced
> > hardware and software to
> > query the deleted name pool thousands of times per
> > second, are constantly
> > ready and waiting to intercept expired domain names
> > the millisecond they are
> > deleted from the registry. The registry has
> > reported that there can be up
> > to 500,000 registration requests per name.
> > 4. There is virtually no way for the typical user to
> > compete
> > effectively for deleting names in this environment.
> > 5. Some domain name buyers operate as speculators
> > who attempt to
> > "ransom" acquired names to legitimate domain name
> > users. Because the
> > minimum cost of pursuing a domain name dispute is
> > $1,500 (the typical
> > minimum dispute resolution filing fee), this figure
> > is often an unaffordable
> > starting point for negotiations.
> > 6. Because this status quo is so beneficial to a few
> > individuals and
> > companies, it is in their interest that the Internet
> > community not be aware
> > of their operations. That's why it's virtually
> > impossible to find their
> > services advertised. To this point: A recent study
> > of nearly 1300 valuable
> > deleted domain names determined that fully 97.9% had
> > been re-registered by
> > only a small handful of professionals using means
> > not available to
> > mainstream users, while a mere 2.1% had been
> > registered on registrars'
> > public websites. (See article entitled "Of, By, and
> > For a Mere Handful of
> > People." State of the Domain, April 2002, pp. 19,
> > 22. Available online at
> > www.sotd.info).
> > 7. The WLS solves the problem of unequal access by
> > creating a
> > transparent, fair, first-come-first-served system.
> > ICANN should not be
> > distracted from the real problem-providing equal
> > public access to expiring
> > names-by red herring issues, such as:
> > a. "Inadvertent deletion": the accidental failure
> > of a
> > registrant to renew a registration, despite multiple
> > warnings from its
> > registrar. (An emotional issue, to be sure, but one
> > affecting just a
> > miniscule fraction of the 800,000 names that expire
> > monthly-and one that is
> > easily solved by registrars themselves);
> > b. "Competition": the imaginary claim that the
> > WLS
> > would eliminate something that does not actually
> > exist today, except to the
> > extent that professionals compete with each other in
> > a closed environment
> > that excludes over 99% of the public;
> > c. "Price": the self-contradictory argument that
> > the
> > WLS's proposed $35 wholesale price would be too low
> > to deter speculators,
> > but too high for mainstream users.
> >
> > Without the support of Internet users, we believe
> > the current situation will
> > further deteriorate as more domain name registrars
> > unfairly devote their
> > registry connections solely to just a few privileged
> > customers. Without the
> > WLS, mainstream consumers such as trademark holders,
> > businesses,
> > individuals, and charitable organizations will
> > continue to be denied the
> > possibility of acquiring valuable expired names.
> >
> > ICANN should therefore endorse the WLS immediately.
> >
> > To make your voice heard in favor of equal access,
> > please reply with
> > comments to:
> >
> > equalaccess@snapnames.com
> > <mailto:equalaccess@snapnames.com>
> >
> >
> > Please circulate this petition to anyone else who
> > may be concerned about
> > this important issue.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Kjel P. Holmberg
> > Business Development Manager
> > SnapNames
> > 115 NW 1st Ave, 3rd Floor
> > Portland, Oregon 97209
> > kjelh@snapnames.com
> > 503.219.9990 ext. 236
> >
>
>
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