[ncdnhc-discuss] Names Council agenda item request: discussion of wholesale price for names

[Dave Crocker]

>Any half-way competent economist can tell you the answer (or at least, an 
>answer).  For some domains it will be high

You are confusing market-based SALE price with what I was talking about, 
namely actual operations COST.  Cost is not affected by public value.  It 
is affects by... costs.  This is not a task for economists.  It is a task 
for folks experienced with putting together and operating a registration 
service.


>"Lock in" is not unique to DNS.  And there are various ways to try to 
>solve it.

I note your use of the word "try".  So as you blithely dismiss the concern, 
please pay close attention not only to the historical success, be sure that 
the historical reference is to something that actually is comparable to DNS 
lockin.


>Whether introduction of new TLDs creates sufficient competition to resolve 
>the switching cost issue is actually subject to economic analysis.

Introducing new TLDs does not affect switching cost at all.  Not one little 
bit.

What affects switching cost, here, is not what it costs to go TO a new 
name, but what it costs to leave the existing one behind.



>Federal Trade Commission economists did an analysis
>for the Commerce Department back in 1998. The answer
>in a word, is "long-term contracts;"

And the reason that bit of academic postulation was roundly dismissed is 
because it is entirely silly.  Long-term contracts help stabilize pricing, 
not service, or at least not service for an unstable industry.  In reality, 
all that will be accomplished with long-term contracts with a registry is 
to ENSURE a worse problem of lock-in.  That's much like what is happening 
with the cell companies' going to multi-year contracts.


Really, folks, these discussions need to move away from idealistic fantasy 
and pay attention to operational reality.

d/

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Dave Crocker <mailto:dave at tribalwise.com>
TribalWise, Inc. <http://www.tribalwise.com>
tel +1.408.246.8253; fax +1.408.850.1850