By that argument, all the HOTEL.TLD and HOTELS.TLD domain names registered by Dirk, or all the other examples by "domain name speculators" abusing the sunrise periods could have just as easily have been bought by those registrants legitimately as "premium domains" too! The registry operators were "too smart" to let Flowers.TLD go through in sunrise to 1-800-Flowers.com, without a premium sale, but were "too dumb" and let all those other desirable names slip through the cracks to be registered by "speculators". Implausible. So, by Georges' argument "we'll just never know" the truth, because it can be explained away by some unlikely scenarios, and we shouldn't dig any deeper, because this working group (or the positions of some members) is better off in ignorance of the truth. Perhaps some people can't handle the truth. "See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_wise_monkeys We shouldn't be turning a blind eye to what's wrong, but instead, as Bret suggested, use all the brain power here to fix things. Sincerely, George Kirikos 416-588-0269 http://www.leap.com/ On Tue, Apr 11, 2017 at 12:53 PM, Nahitchevansky, Georges <ghn@kilpatricktownsend.com> wrote:
I think you are right that these were likely premium names. Many registries, including Donuts and Minds & Machines offered names for sale in advance of a landrush at a premium (and some even after general availability periods started). If free speech is really the "concern" here then how does premium pricing not chill speech or skew the marketplace of ideas by favoring the rich over the poor. As an aside, on the flowers example, 1-800 Flowers obtained a number of their names well after the sunrise periods ended (e.g., flowers.london, flowers.today, flowers.country and flowers.website). Moreover, a bunch of flowers extensions have either been registered to other parties or are still available (e.g., flowers.xyz, flowers.guru, flowers.nyc, flowers.domains, flowers.pet, flowers.photography, flowers.photo, flowers.place, flowers.poker. flowers.property, flowers.republican, flowers.repair etc.) It hardly seems like there has been a conspiracy to take out common words. At best you have a trademark owner that registered and acquired some domain names (including flowers.com) that correlate to its legitimate business of ordering and delivering flowers, gift baskets etc.