On 13 July 2010 17:50, Joly MacFie <joly@punkcast.com> wrote:
Subsequent to this conversation I then heard from reclusive Danny Younger noting that he has made an "end-run" proposal for a 'free' .ngo tld on the .int model. http://forum.icann.org/lists/joint-wg-snapshot/msg00000.html
Well, since Danny has unsubscribed to this (NARALO) list and didn't reply to my emails (I stopped trying long ago), please relay the following: 1) Who the heck still sends out messages as Word docs? Hardly the measure of openness or web-friendliness 2) Danny is proposing a solution to a problem that doesn't exist. He's suggesting a new single TLD that will give NGOs second-level domains for free. That is *not* what the Board has asked for and it's not what communities (such as expressed in the AFRALO/AfrICANN statement) have requested. They don't care about reducing the cost of a second-level domain, they care about reducing the cost of a *top* level domain, which is currenty priced at $185,000 plus $25,000 per year. 3) Arguably this is what .org was originally all about. While .org domains aren't free, they're not particularly expensive either. 4) This is not about NGOs per-se. It's about communities, such as language and ethnic communities, looking to repeat the success of ".cat" by using a TLD to enhance their communications. Participants can include non-profits but these plans are also explicitly inclusive of for-profits, which still need help in the unbalanced playing field of developing economies.
Should NARALO also develop a position on this?
IMO, no. It will be considered by the AC/SO committee (I know, since I co-chair it) but will likely be dismissed as out of scope. Given the mandate and the stakeholder requests, Danny's proposal isn't simply out in left field -- it isn't even in the stadium. Of course he'd have found that out long ago had he bothered even a shred of participation before making the proposal. - Evan