Re: [ga] WLS

[Kent Crispin <kent@songbird.com>]

On Fri, Jun 21, 2002 at 07:30:53AM -0500, Jeff Field wrote:
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: owner-ga@dnso.org [mailto:owner-ga@dnso.org]On Behalf Of Kent
> > Crispin
> > Sent: Friday, June 21, 2002 12:27 AM
> > To: ga@dnso.org
> > Subject: Re: [ga] WLS
> >
> >
> > On Thu, Jun 20, 2002 at 08:40:23PM -0400, John Berryhill wrote:
> > >
> > > >
> > > > Dramatically increase the cost for whom?  Registrars, speculators? or
> > > > consumers?
> > > >
> > > > Chuck
> > >
> > > Please provide a meaningful distinction between a "speculator" and a
> > > "consumer".
> >
> > Speculators register domain names for the primary intent of reselling
> > them later for a profit.  Consumers don't have resale as a primary
> > intent.  As you know, the law is quite capable of using intent as a
> > meaningful distinguishing characteristic.  In general, you are making a
> > "slippery slope" argument, and, again, as you know, slippery slope
> > arguments are not valid.
> >
> > --
> > Kent Crispin                               "Be good, and you will be
> > kent@songbird.com                          lonesome."  -- Mark Twain
> >
> 
> In the stock market you have some people that buy and sell stocks as an
> investment and others that buy and sell stocks on pure speculation.

In the stock market world the terms speculation and investor have
connotations of particular ranges of risk/reward ratios.  That
distinction is not necessary in the domain name world, because the
risk/reward ratio for registering names w/ the intent of making an
investment is intrinsically very high.  That is, essentially all domain
name "investors" easily meet the criteria for "speculator". 

> The
> first group are called, "investors"; the second group, "speculators".  But
> investors and speculators are simply subsets of the more broad terms,
> "buyers" and "sellers".
>
> In regards to domain names, IMHO, *way* too much emphasis has been placed on
> trying to make the distinction between a "consumer" and a "speculator".
> Both are simply members of the more broad term, "registrant".  The basic
> question that needs answering regarding WLS is whether or not "registrants"
> will be harmed.

I wasn't addressing the WLS proposal directly, and I would rather not
comment on it.  I was addressing the more general question of whether
one could make a make a distinction betweeen the notion of "speculator"
and the notion of "consumer".  I provided a definition that I think
works well enough, is understandable, and captures the distinction. 
That definition is not perfect, but a definition doesn't have to be
perfect to be meaningful, or useful. 

As to whether making the distinction between "investor" and "consumer"
is important:

Speculators are an important component of many markets, because they
make the market more efficient.  Many people feel that justification is
not present in the case of domain names, and that speculators add nothing
to the market but more middlemen.  That is generally considered a bad
thing in any market, and many people would like to minmize it.  Hence 
an argument that a proposal will reduce the amount of speculation has 
weight with many people.  (I don't know if Chuck Gomes was making that 
argument or not.)

Kent

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