Re: [wg-c] reposted for Richard S. Campbell

[Harold Feld <hfeld@mediaaccess.org>]

Jonathan Weinberg (for Richard S. Campbell) wrote:

>
> Now, there are a lot of weaknesses in this idea, not the least of which is
> the actual definition of bank, and who would define it.

A number of people have raised this issue for "chartered" TLDs.
Might I suggest that preserving the character of a chartered TLD is a
value-added service that a registry will want to maintain on its own.

For example, if I maintain ".cpa", I will market it as a convenience
for folks looking for (or looking to be identified as) CPAs or
somehow CPA-related.

The counter argument is that a registry seeks to maximize registrations.
This is true under the current model, but may not be true in the future under
different business plans.  For example, I may market my registry at a
premium price (say $500/name) and the justification for the premium is
that people will be able to find and identify you easily.  If I do not
maintain the purity of the registry, people will stop registering names
and will not renew.  Alternatively, I can sell this valuable point
about my TLD as a reason for cross marketing with existing
search engines.  Lots of possibilities . . .

I anticipate that many will raise both lock-in objections and the difficulty
in screening applicants.  My response is that we should allow the market
the maximum freedom to operate.  Some registries will be better than others
at maintaining the integrity of a chartered TLD.  Some users will not
want to risk lock-in, others will take the risk and mitigate against it.

I will also note that we have a few chartered TLDs that have worked out
quite well.  For example, ".gov" is still limited to US government agencies.
While there are many reasons for this that are not necessarily translatable
to a new chartered TLD, I point to it as a counter example to the .org and .net
experiences.

I believe that the current scramble results from the scarcity of domain names
and
the general nature of TLDs. Businesses want to differentiate themselves.  If
the opportunity presents itself in the form of new TLD, I think customers will
want it.

HArold