For information ________________________________ From: Richard Tindal [mailto:Richard.Tindal@demandmedia.com] Sent: Friday, September 11, 2009 7:18 PM To: philip.sheppard@aim.be; icann@rodenbaugh.com; zahid@jamilandjamil.com Subject: RE: Registry-Registrar Vertical Integration Dear BC, Here is a letter we sent to the Board on this issue. I think one of the aspects of this debate that is misinformed is the notion that cross-ownership is new policy. As discussed in detail in page 2 or our attached letter there is a long history of gTLD registry contracts that permit cross ownership. The majority of TLDs launched since 2001 had contracts with more cross ownership than is currently proposed in the DAG. Another important distinction that many are missing is that cross ownership is not suitable in all situations. Where the registry is price capped, or where it exerts market power, we do not support cross ownership of registry and registrar. For example the majority of concerns raised by PIR in their letter relate to price capped TLDs, but they are not making the distinction between this and non-price capped TLDs. We advocate limited cross ownership only for TLDs without price caps. I am available to discuss any aspect of this at your convenience. Best regards Richard Tindal eNom