[ga] Fascinating bust up on the Registrars Mailing List
Title: Help Our friend Michael Palage has been involved in a fascinating (and
entertaining) punch up on the Registrars Mailing List.
If you click on this Link: http://www.dnso.org/clubpublic/registrars/Arc02/mail2.html
, and follow the thread entitled "PersonalNames.com" and a spin off thread
"Proposed Bylaw Amendment" you will see a fascinating series of registrar
comments giving insight into the conflict of interest involved in Registrars
being involved running Registries.
In the context of Afilias (registrar cartel with whom Michael Palage is
closely involved) the potential conflict of interest was demonstrated in the
.info Sunrise and beyond.
The spark that ignited the registrar civil war of the past few days was the
news that the .name Registry has decided to bypass registrars and sell its
domain names direct to the public through its own new Registrar company (owned
by them) called Personal Names .com.
The advertising literature on their site stated that this new outlet would
have a special advantage because, presumably, of its position as a business
owned and run by the Registry.
This set other registrars up in arms, demanding that anyone who held office
or major shareholdings in a Registry should be booted out of the registrars
constituency, and that they should appeal immediately to ... the elusive Dan
Halloran, ICANN Registrar Liaison.
Only trouble was, Ross Rader of Tucows seemed to have forgotten that this
would not only boot out Personal Names people, but also by implication, all
those like Michael Palage, Hal Lubsen etc etc who hold roles in registrars and
in registries. Suddenly it was being proposed in effect that ALL Afilias
registrars would have to be booted out of the Registrars constituency.
As you might expect, Michael Palage mounted a vociferous defence, but so
far to no avail. A motion has been passed which is due to be discussed at
registrars' conference call, then put to a vote. This motion was proposed by
Ross Rader and seconded by Robert Connelly (who ironically wouldn't be affected
because he resigned from Afilias!)
Meanwhile, the status of Personal Names .com was called into question. Were
they accredited by ICANN? They were not on the ICANN list of accredited
registrars. Nobody seemed to know. However, Michael Palage was able to produce
information out of the blue that they HAD got ICANN accreditation, but they
hadn't been put on the list yet. Some people questioned this (!) and requested
confirmation of this from Dan Halloran.
Unfortunately Dan Halloran was not available, as his wife was giving birth
to a son.
For those of us who are ordinary internet users, the sad thing in all this
is that we complained ages ago that a conflict of interest existed, when ICANN
granted Registries to their Registrar friends, and this was exemplified in the
case of Afilias and its roll-out.
If you have a spare hour, take a look at these threads. They give some
fascinating insights into the world of registrars and what moves and motivates
them.
Richard Henderson
Oh yes, and Dan Halloran, I hope your wife and child are well, and please,
please could you reply to my mail (now over 260 days unacknowledged) raising and
detailing serious concerns... once you return to duty. Congratulations and
thanks.
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