Philip, I personally find myself more aligned with your viewpoints than I do with those expressed by Ron and Liz, however, I do not believe the BC charter permits a suitable timeframe to submit a constituency statement. I have been watching the EOI ballot box stuff exercise and believe it would be most prudent/effective for individual members to submit their comments to the forum. I have just completed an article in connection with the EOI that I will be publicly posting to the ICANN forum later today, and will forward it to the BC list as well. Best regards, Michael -----Original Message----- From: owner-bc-gnso@icann.org [mailto:owner-bc-gnso@icann.org] On Behalf Of Philip Sheppard Sent: Monday, January 18, 2010 4:56 AM To: bc-gnso@icann.org Subject: [bc-gnso] TLD pre-registration This is out for consultation. The public comment period opens on 18 December 2009 and closes on 27 January 2010. Details at: http://www.icann.org/en/public-comment/#draft-eoi <http://www.icann.org/en/public-comment/#draft-eoi> My draft initial comments are as follows. Comments ? If there is consensus / support I'd be happy to write something up as a BC position. Philip -------------------- We oppose the concept of pre-registration and expressions of interest (EOI) for the following reasons. 1. Distraction The EOI process should not distract ICANN from the fundamental task of addressing unresolved issues relating to new TLDs such as trade mark protection and malicious conduct. 2. A true pre-registration The proposed mandatory EOI process with a $55,000 fee is described as a pre-registration suggesting that it is not reversible regardless of the unresolved overarching issues such as trade mark protection and malicious conduct. 3. Inconsistency The principle of pre-registration is inconsistent with all previous ICANN practice. 4. Ignores market dynamics Brand owners may feel compelled to enter into an EOI purely for defensive reasons, so that they do not suffer when a speculator is given rights in their brand. There seems to be no facility to allow competition for the same domain names after pre-registration. Moreover, pre-registration may tip-off competitors to new business models prematurely. 5. A lower than market fee may encourage speculation Speculators may pay $55,000 to secure rights to certain domains instead of $185,000 in the hope of selling on. This is surely not the intent of ICANN's Board. 6. Applicants are forced to invest blind Because there are unresolved issues, the pre-registration model forces applications in ignorance of potential future costs. This is poor business practice. Philip Sheppard