Re: [wg-c] There is no "consensus"

[Milton Mueller <mueller@syr.edu>]

Javier SOLA wrote:

> At 17:01 19/07/99 -0400, Milton Mueller wrote:
>
> >Under the proprietary model, if I register "milton.web" the registry will
> >most likely be the same corporation as the registrar.
>
> I don't think so. The non-shared registry is history. Having ICANN force
> NSi to open its registry sets a precedent that cannot be changed now.

Javier, we have to keep an open mind about the options before us. The White Paper
specifically singled out NSI's gTLDs for special treatment because of its
dominance of the market (com is 62% of all registrations worldwide, 75% with net
and org) and the mistake USG made in letting NSI have a monopoly for so long. The
White paper explicitly reserves the issue of competing commercial registries to
the new organization. Exclusive commercial registries is a live policy option.
There are several on this list who support it. Please do not try to pretend
otherwise.

> Quite an statement. ALL patent registry offices work this way. There is a
> central (usually government department) registry that is non profit, and
> ALL registrar agents (TM agents) are for-profit companies that compete on
> price and service. This is the one model that works in the real world.

This is a highly inappropriate model. A patent registration is a grant of a
*territorial* property right by a national government. As such, it follows the
monopolistic nature of government itself.

A domain name is a globally visible address that performs a technical function.
The Swedish patent office does not compete for registration business with the US
patent office--both provide completely incomparable services and protections. But
there is no doubt that a gTLD registry competes for registration business with
other gTLDs and with ccTLDs. Ergo, whereas patent offices must be territorial
monopolies, registries need not be.

> By having a low-price/good-service-to-registrars registry, registrars have
> quite a lot of flexibility on the price they can charge to a final
> customer, as well as choosing what level of service they want to give. The
> final price of a domain (for a user) will be fixed by market conditions.
> The price will include a fixed component (cost of the registry) and a
> variable component added by the registrar, charging for his services.

But the most important part of the business is the cost and service of the
registry. All the rest is secondary.

--
m i l t o n   m u e l l e r // m u e l l e r @ s y r . e d u
syracuse university          http://istweb.syr.edu/~mueller/