It's pretty obvious that sunrise periods exist primarily for the purpose of giving ICANN insiders a head start -- (and preferential pricing) over the rest of the world at domain acquisition. That such practice is considered uncontroversial and ethical is just one more example of the altered reality inside the ICANN bubble.

I find it truly unfortunate that this culture and design has evolved such that only radical intervention from outside this bubble -- from sources such as the California Attorney General -- can really affect ICANN's impact on end users. It's good to know that such backstops exist when the internal process to protect end users reliably fails, even if they only act in extreme circumstances.

- Evan