New registry services (Jisuk, Carlos, Marc - please note)

[Marc Schneiders]

On Thu, 6 Nov 2003, at 12:07 [=GMT-0500], Milton Mueller wrote:

> We have been given an absurdly short time frame to comment
> on an ICANN staff report regarding a very complex issue: review
> of new registry services by ICANN.

Assuming this is the text at

http://www.icann.org/gnso/issue-reports/draft-registry-svcs-report-31oct03.htm

I suggest that we refuse to comment before we get the full thing.
I am always worried about things like "Excerpt from Draft Version".
What else is in there?

And why is there now this super hurry?

And why again these leading questions we saw before in similar texts?
Why no description of the issue? The issue is that Verisign changed
the behaviour of the DNS. This is no new service. This is changing an
existing service.

So if you want a substantial comment: Make them distinguish between
altering the behaviour of the DNS and user experiences and making
money, all three at the same time, and introducing new services. New
services is not what this is about. It is about making money out of
OLD services, by changing them. It is no better than selling the email
adresses in the whois and calling that a new service.

I have no idea how this works legally. I'd say to any engineer, or my
daughter who turns 10, please God, on Monday, it is clear that
SiteFinder was not a new service but something that changed overnight
into something weird. The engineers made pretty clear how they felt
about it. My daughter does not read English yet, so she missed the
point.

In other words: Registries cannot change things just to make money.
Especially not if they do not sell a new product, but simply turn
assets in their care into money makers. Is this not clear to anyone
with common sense?

The problem is totally misdefined. I am not sure this is because it is
turned into legal wording or because ICANN is legally entangled in
the contracts with Verisign. But it could very well be. I think
something like this would be impossible in Europe. No I am not playing
the anti-American trumpet. I am simply flummoxed once more by things
icannesque.