I have forwarded this email as it seems for some reason to have fallen afoul of the spam filters on the mailman server. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Danny Younger <dannyyounger@yahoo.com> Date: 21-Mar-2007 01:26 Subject: {Spam?} Re: [At-Large] The Resolutions for the Lisbon Meeting To: carlton.samuels@uwimona.edu.jm Cc: Nick Ashton-Hart <nick.ashton-hart@icann.org>, NA Discuss < na-discuss@atlarge-lists.icann.org> In respect of AL/2007/R/1, I note (but do not understand) the remark that the LACRALO Secretariat is persuaded to the view that this matter is outside of ICANN's remit. AL/2007/R/1 calls for the abandonment of ICANN's 5-day Add Grace Period. The Add Grace Period is an ICANN invention unsupported by RFC requirements. It is first described by the IETF in Scott Hollenbeck's September 2004 RFC 3915 as follows: In March 2003, ICANN published a task force report describing other domain registry grace periods related to EPP operations. This mapping describes extension status values to note the grace periods described in the report, including: An "add grace period" after the initial registration of a domain name. If the domain name is deleted by the registrar during this period, the registry provides a credit to the registrar for the cost of the registration. The Add Grace period was originally introduced so that inadvertent typographical errors made during the domain name registration process by domain name registrants could readily be voided. With all the confirmations and re-confirmations now built into the domain name registration process, innocent typographical errors by typical registrants are now rare in the extreme. During the course of the last two years, the Add Grace Period has been put to a new and unintended use as a vehicle that allows for domain name "tasting" – the quantification of domain name traffic potential. Domains are being registered and parked during the Add Grace Period with advertising content that is semantically derived from the domain name; should potential revenues from such advertising exceed the domain name registration costs the domain is registered, otherwise it is returned to the pool of available names. During the single month of November 2006, the following quantity of domain names were deleted in .com and .net: 35,015,877 Over 35 million domain names were registered and not paid for in these two TLDs during this one month. Additionally, those engaged in offering professional domain name tasting services have recently adopted new tactics (as discussed on the Registrar Discussion List and elsewhere) that allow for names to be registered seemingly in perpetuity without payment through an automated process of registration/deletion/re-registration/re-deletion etc. I view these practices as malicious and recall the commentary in the 5 June 1998 "Statement of Policy, Management of Internet Names and Addresses," 63 Fed. Reg. 31741(1998): "The failure to make a domain name applicant pay for its use of a domain name has encouraged cyberpirates and is a practice that should end as soon as possible." I recognize that an epidemic of typosquatting has resulted in conjunction with the proliferation of domain name tasting services and I seek to curb this ongoing abuse of the domain name system. I refer the LACRALO Secretariat to a MicroSoft Research paper entitled, "Strider Typo-Patrol: Discovery and Analysis of Systematic Typo-Squatting" at http://www.usenix.org/events/sruti06/tech/full_papers/wang/wang.pdf In closing, I support the elimination of the Add Grace period and view the recommendation as wholly within ICANN's remit. ICANN invented this Grace Period; they can choose to eliminate it. I look forward to an elucidation of your views. Best wishes, Danny Younger ____________________________________________________________________________________ Food fight? Enjoy some healthy debate in the Yahoo! Answers Food & Drink Q&A. http://answers.yahoo.com/dir/?link=list&sid=396545367 -- -- Regards, Nick Ashton-Hart PO Box 32160 London N4 2XY United Kingdom UK Tel: +44 (20) 8800-1011 USA Tel: +1 (202) 657-5460 Fax: +44 (20) 7681-3135 mobile: +44 (7774) 932798 Win IM: ashtonhart@hotmail.com / AIM/iSight: nashtonhart@mac.com / Skype: nashtonhart Online Bio: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashtonhart