On 30 Nov 2010, at 03:09, Danny Younger wrote:

Dear all,

Events that have transpired in the last few days attendant to the launch of .рф have made it clear to me that although we can't deal with the troubling issues that may arise with TLD launches in the ccTLD world, we do have the ability to act to protect the public interest within the gTLD sphere by way of a policy that would govern speculation in domain names by registrars.

By way of background, in the recent .рф ccTLD launch an ICANN accredited registrar, RU-Center, decided to register domain names in its own name on a priority basis and only then did it register other domain names. Approximately 24,500 premium domains registered to RU-Center were then put up for auction. The Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) then stepped in, shut down the auctions and accused a number of registrars of collusion.

What can we learn from this? Simply put... greed in the new TLD launch process can lead to abuse of the public trust, and measures need to be in place to ensure that the public is protected from the ICANN-accredited registrar community.

In our gTLD world, there is at the moment no ICANN policy whatsoever governing speculation in, or warehousing of, domains by registrars. Registrars are able to game the system to their own ends however they see fit; this has to change.

The current RAA (section 3.7.9) states: "Registrar shall abide by any ICANN adopted specifications or policies prohibiting or restricting warehousing of or speculation in domain names by registrars".

As there is no such policy or specification, I suggest that we initiate a PDP to have such a policy created, namely a policy that would state:

"No registrar, registrar affiliate, or reseller of registrar services shall engage in warehousing of or speculation in domain names."

While I understand that the GNSO soon will broadly be looking at proposed amendments for the RAA, we all know that the GNSO process (if spread over the entirety of the RAA proposed amendments) can take years to arrive at a recommendation... yet with the imminent roll-out of hundreds of new gTLDs, we just don't have the luxury of waiting that long.

In my view, what is called for is a Fast Track PDP approach that would focus on a single policy recommendation that could be put in place before any new gTLD is launched.

I would ask the NARALO to bring this matter to the immediate attention of the ALAC.

Thanks for your consideration of this issue.

Danny Younger

Danny As a registrar, and I can only speak for the one that I own, I'd have to strongly disagree with your views on this. In the ccTLD world registry operators are able to decide on policies that they feel should be applied to their registrars and this includes, in some cases, clauses referring to warehousing and clear definitions of same. While I may not have an issue with a registry operator specifying that "warehousing" is forbidden / restricted, I do take issue with your broadening that to include all forms of speculation in domain names. That is far too broad. In the real world you cannot reasonably expect to pay the same price for prime real estate as you would for non-prime real estate. Your view that it's "us against them" where "us" refers to the "public" and its interest and "them" refers to "registrars" is over simplistic and quite frightening. Do you honestly think that all registrars are "evil"? Do you honestly think that non-registrars cannot "game" a system? So even if you had your way, do you think you would actually solve the "problem"? I also do not think that this is really a matter for the RAA and even if it was any amendment there would not be binding on ALL registrars until they ALL renewed under a new contract, which won't actually solve your "problem" with new TLDs that will have launched before that time period. Regards Michele Mr Michele Neylon Blacknight Solutions Hosting & Colocation, Brand Protection ICANN Accredited Registrar http://www.blacknight.com/ http://blog.blacknight.com/ http://blacknight.mobi/ http://mneylon.tel Intl. +353 (0) 59 9183072 US: 213-233-1612 UK: 0844 484 9361 Locall: 1850 929 929 Direct Dial: +353 (0)59 9183090 Twitter: http://twitter.com/mneylon PS: Check out our latest offers on domains & hosting: http://domainoffers.me/ ------------------------------- Blacknight Internet Solutions Ltd, Unit 12A,Barrowside Business Park,Sleaty Road,Graiguecullen,Carlow,Ireland Company No.: 370845