Hi All,For days and months we discussed auctions and ways to improve them. One thing we learned is that Vickrey auctions are inherently fair They provide a process that encourages bidders to bid the price that is fair to them -- and set out exactly what they are willing to pay. They avoid collusion and unfair dealing. I thought we had agreed to recommend this method -- a sealed bid at the time of application. I want to reintroduce some of what we learned about Vickrey Auctions in our long discussions -- and why they are a trusted method of auctions among players large and small and with an array of resources. I think it is the very best way to ensure that smaller parties can prevail from time to time, and that the Global South can obtain a share of new gTLDs. Best, Kathy----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WHAT IS A VICKREY AUCTION? https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/other/vickrey-auct... A Vickrey auction is a sealed-bid auction where bidders submit bids without knowing the bids of other people. However, as opposed to other sealed-bid auctions, the price paid is the second-highest bid price and not the winning bid price. The Vickrey auction was named after William Vickrey, a Canadian who won the 1996 Nobel Prize in Economics for his research on asymmetric information [1] in economics. UNDERSTANDING A VICKREY AUCTION In a Vickrey auction, the individual is bidding their true value and are not trying to assess what everyone else is going to bid. Therefore, in a Vickrey auction, the individual is bidding the maximum amount they are willing to pay and are not disadvantaged by it. By utilizing the second-price mechanism [2] in a Vickrey auction, individuals bid truthfully – individuals are motivated to bid their maximum value because the individual understands that if their bid wins, they will only need to pay the second-highest bid value. Links: ------ [1] https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/finance/asymmetric... [2] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228296863_How_Good_is_the_Generaliz...