Howdy Bruce,
Does that mean you would prefer a different entity run the auction system rather than the registry?
Yes. Unless of course I wake up tomorrow running .com.
I guess this could be done using a competitive tender process operated by ICANN to operate the ".com registry auction system" for names about to be re-released. Problem is it would take time.
That's one avenue. Another is to form a coop entity and make accredition the test for coop membership, and tell ICANN that is where we want the "deleted front-end" in expiring com/net/org names to reside -- not as a registry service, but as a registrar cooperative service. Faster than letting ICANN tender a bid sometime after hell freezes over, and safer than expanding the definition of registry service, and safer than letting things continue becoming more and more fragmentary. Cheers, Eric