Bhavin, I was on the road all last week myself. But my understanding is that either 1 or 2 *will* be implemented. With the backlog of new registrars VeriSign needs to do something for the short term pretty quickly. Since for now, these are going to be our only choices, I would prefer to see 1 implemented. The reason is that I don't believe 2 will do anything to stop the tide of *phantom* accreditations just for the purpose of using the batch pool. There is too much money at stake for this option to be effective. So while option 1 may not be ideal either, for now, it will make the usefulness of the *phantom* registrars pretty much nil. Also, with Network Solutions' and Tucows' intention to offer a secondary market service to registrants with expiring/deleting names, far less valuable names are going to actually hit the drop list anyway. So I think the future value of the batch pool is going to change dramatically. Tim -----Original Message----- From: owner-registrars@gnso.icann.org [mailto:owner-registrars@gnso.icann.org] On Behalf Of Bhavin Turakhia Sent: Tuesday, September 28, 2004 1:57 PM To: 'Registrars Constituency' Subject: [registrars] Verisign batch pool advisory Hi all, Works been a lil hectic - and I am gonna be out travelling most of the next 2-3 weeks. However here is one of the first agenda that needs our attention Verisign had sent out a batch pool Advisory note proposing two solutions for the batch pool as follows - 1. One measure would require registrars to keep automated batch pool processing within reasonable limits. Specifically, registrars would be required to not exceed a maximum ratio of total transactions for every successful transaction. <snip> 2. A second option we are considering is providing capacity to the batch pool on a fee basis, which would be available to all registrars. For a fixed monthly charge per single connection <snip> Both the above solutions in their current proposed form are very raw and their implications need to be studied in detail. For instance I can see several implications instantly * In case of option (1) the larger registrars have an advantage since they have a greater number of transactions * In case of option (2) companies with deeper pockets have an advantage, and more importantly this will lead to a status quo situation where noone will make money except verisign since everyone will be buying conections until it reaches a point where everyone is just abt covering their costs * if option (1) is adopted icann will fail to meet its budget since all registrars will be below the 1:200 ratio and therefore all of us will meet the forgiveness criteria laid out in the budget * there is other implications to aspects like - does this qualify as a registry service? etc I would like to be able to do the following - * I think we should send an email to Verisign asking them for some more time to draft out an official response from the constituency as well as have individual registrars who have not yet had the time to pen out their thoughts send them in. This is very important since none of us have had enuf time to respond to this and the constituency has not had enuf time to figure out a response either * I would like everyone to post their concerns about both the above solutiobns and any suggested modifications you may have for these * I would like to have people volunteer to form a small group to study all the implications and issues * I would like to have people assist in drafting out a response from the constituency's perspective. While I know we may not be able to achieve consensus since all of us may have different ideas, it is atleast important to pen down our collective concerns and see if we can figure out a solution or atleast bring to Verisign's attention the potential problems with these 2 solutions Ummm ..... I think thts all for now :) Help me get the ball rolling Best Regards Bhavin Turakhia Founder, CEO and Chairman DirectI -------------------------------------- http://www.directi.com Direct Line: +91 (22) 5679 7600 Direct Fax: +91 (22) 5679 7510 Board Line (USA): +1 (415) 240 4172 Board Line (India): +91 (22) 5679 7500 --------------------------------------