[registrars] Registrar Support for ICANN Reform

["Michael D. Palage" <michael@palage.com>]

Hello All:

Over the past couple of months I have been working with various US
registrars in submitting letters of support for ICANN reform to their
Congressional representatives and the DoC. As I stated on a post to the
ICANN General Assembly list on Friday: "While a select few people wear out
their welcome on the Hill and the Department of Commerce, there are small to
medium size businesses struggling to make a living. They do not have the
luxury to send an army of lobbyists to DC to manipulate the truth on a daily
basis."

Seven of the new ICANN accredited registries submitted a jointly signed
statement to the Department of Commerce on Friday. A copy of the letter is
available online at http://www.lextext.com/Registry-DOC.html. I would like
to submit the following letter to Nancy Victory by the end of business this
week. I have made only minor changes to reflect the nature of the registrar
signatories to this letter.

The registry letter appears to have been submitted by individual registries
instead of as an ICANN Registry Constituency position statement. I will
discuss with the Registrar Executive Committee on our weekly call the
pro/cons of such action and how best to proceed. Regardless of whether this
is a Registrar Constituency statement or a letter submitted jointly by ICANN
accredited registrars, I need to know if you will or will not agree to be a
signatory to it.

Any questions or comments please let me know ASAP.

Best regards,

Michael D. Palage



Dear Ms. Victory:

We, the undersigned ICANN accredited registrars, are writing to express our
continuing support for the ongoing efforts of the ICANN Evolution and Reform
Committee (ERC). While we understand the frustrations of certain members of
the Internet community in connection with the overall ICANN process to date,
we believe that ICANN remains the most viable solution to ensure the ongoing
stability of the Internet's naming and addressing systems.

In the three and half years since its inception, ICANN has taken on the
Herculean task of trying to fulfill the numerous objectives as originally
set forth in the White Paper. Although like minds may differ on the success
of ICANN in connection with these objectives, the following facts are
irrefutable. Little more than three years ago there was one monopoly gTLD
registry/registrar provider. Today there are well over 100 operational
registrars and seven new TLD registries.

As the domain name market place continues to mature, we strongly believe
that market forces and governmental authorities will be the principal
guiding forces. We believe that somewhere within those guiding forces there
exists, and will continue to exist, a significant role for ICANN that has
been recognized by the Department of Commerce. Although there are issues
that still need to be addressed within the Blueprint document, upon which
the undersigned will continue to attempt to provide constructive feedback,
we believe that these issues can be solved in a mutually agreeable manner
between ICANN and registries/registrars within the context of their existing
contractual relationships.

We encourage you to continue to support the efforts underway to
constructively reform ICANN and provide it with the necessary staff and
resources to ensure that competition and stability continue to exist at the
registrar and registry levels for the benefit of all Internet users.

Sincerely,