As you all know there are several regions of the world that are not particularly well served in terms of registrars etc.,
If ICANN / LEA push the phone verification too far then they'll be widening
the digital divide ..
On the contrary, by your account such a move would encourage more opportunities for local or regional registrars in areas currently served only by foreigners.
This is very true, specially for local registrars offer registration in local languages. Another advantage of "localization" is that registrants' contacts can be verified in local languages, by emails or phone calls. Hong -- Professor Dr. Hong Xue Director of Institute for the Internet Policy & Law (IIPL) Beijing Normal University http://www.iipl.org.cn/ 19 Xin Jie Kou Wai Street Beijing 100875 China