Danny Younger wrote:
Question #4 is particularly challenging:
Indeed, for all the reasons you've given.
ICANN likes to think of itself as promoting industry self-regulation and as serving to coordinate "best practices". The issue, as we know, is that registrars have routinely failed to adopt best practices, have never adopted a Code of Conduct, and seem to go out of their way to avoid self-regulatory activities.
Perhaps the industry will not voluntarily create a code of conduct, but ICANN can create a Charter of Rights (or a Bill of Rights, for our American friends) for Internet users. Maybe not even one but two -- one for registrants, one for Internet users, since the groups have different levels of technical sophistication and at times different needs. I've heard the idea buzzed around. Perhaps, with the RALOs fully constituted, the idea is within reach. Dare I say, perhaps first drafts of these documents might be the primary goal of the Summit (assuming there still is one) :-P
There is, however, a way to deal with consumer complaints that seems to work. AuDa has a Consumer Complaint Resolution Mechanism that thus far has stood the test of time (and apparently hasn't suffered from liability issues)... see http://www.auda.org.au/policies/auda-2007-03/
[... an interesting approach ...]
Perhaps it's time to discuss such an approach with ICANN to deal with gTLD issues.
Hmm. You just said that voluntary measures, and prodding with "you _should_" language, doesn't work in ICANN's world. And yet,
auDA is not a government agency or statutory authority, therefore it does not have legislative power to impose fines or other penalties on a registrar or reseller.
So what is the "or else" plan if their directions are not followed? - Evan PS: What was you take on the other issues I raised, Danny?