For information - please see the link below. The paper concludes that "The public interest in supporting competition does not support elimination of the current separation of Registry and Registrar ownership. The end result would be further consolidation of the top tier registrars, gaming of the loopholes in the reciprocity provisions which will, in the very least, provide a "time to market" advantage for select Registrars, among others. These changes would, in conclusion, present a severe negative impact on competition among Registries and among Registrars and harm to end users". The BC has I believe not formally changed its view on R/R separation (ie against) but we did presume the issue may be less relevant with the expansion of new TLDs and may be competition enhancing for smaller players. This paper argues (to my mind) persuasively against that presumption. Philip ________________________________ FYI. Enclosed is a paper produced by PIR, NeuStar and Afilias on the Registry-Registrar separation issue which reflects the dangers of the removal of the separation requirements. http://www.icann.org/correspondence/raad-to-dengate-thrush-08may09-en.pdf. Jeffrey J. Neuman, Esq.: NeuStar, Inc. Vice President, Law & Policy