[ncdnhc-discuss] Re: Mission creep and consumer protection

[James Love]

----- Original Message -----
From: "t byfield" <tbyfield at panix.com>
> i'm not sure if this question has been disposed of; if not,
> then here are my observations.

    I don't think these questions have been disposed of at all.  I think
rather there is a lack of interest within ICANN in general and to some
extent with the NCDNHC in looking at the practical problem facing
consumers, due in part to the large number of persons within ICANN who
see this as a business opportunity for the registry/registar business.
In the case of the pricing issue, right now ICANN does not have any role
in the ccTLD pricing, which many use, and there a good argument that
this can be addressed by the various national governments that map to
the cctld.   But there are important issues looming in the .org
redelegation (millions of current registrations), given the historic
role that DOC played in regulating the registry price.   Most of the
IP/Business people in the DNSO don't care much about the pricing of the
.org domains, and the registry/registrar constituents are not anxious to
see anyone look at pricing issues.    The NCDNHC is the only part of the
DNSO that one would expect to care about this.  One can imagine systems
to manage .org that would protect domain holders from unreasonable
prices, and one can imagine systems that provide zero protection.   The
pricing of registry services ultimately drives the pricing of the domain
names.  I would like to see this issue addressed so we can see what the
options are, and give some advice of ICANN on what we prefer.    Also, I
agree with Ted that ICANN drags out the consumer protection issue all
the time when it suits various protection of IP rights issues (you
should have heard the ICANN staff and board in some Congressional
hearings talking about the need to curb Netsol's high pricing), but runs
for cover whenever there is something that might actually protect
consumers in an area where ICANN is already in the game (regulating
groups that sell domain names).

   Jamie