Local cost related to running a TLD

[Norbert Klein]

Tan Tin Wee wrote:
> Yes, indeed your .02 is correct, correct as of the standpoint
> of a person from a richer developed country living in San Antonio
> USA. For me, I understand that as a person in a rich developed
> country like Singapore. It is not a hot dog stand, really.
>
> But for a developing country, do you think that a 1Million
> dollars for IDNs makes any sense? they might as well train the
> population to read English! Better value for money! Or save a
> million kids from some horrible infectious disease.
> And for IDNs, well, if we have to run it, we can only afford 90K.
> Won't you consider this correct too? from their standpoint.
>
> For such a developing country, you want them to run a one
> million dollar operation for a few tens of thousands of IDNs,
> it is simply just not cost effective. So they might as well
> back off. And then, what is the point for me to invent IDNs
> and advocate it for the past 12 years? For rich countries to
> take over and make more money out of the poor?
>
> Let's take a positive approach to things. Accept that the
> digital divide exists. Linguistic, technical and financial
> barriers exist. That's the reality of today's world.
>
> So to promote some desperately needed mutual understanding, especially
> for those who don't know enough English for them to argue
> successfully in the ICANN forum or in this mailing list forum,
> can you guys not consider their fate, just for a moment?
>
> To you, TLD operator/registry is gTLD, loads of money involved.
> Shouldn't you care more than 2 cents worth about the
> poor left-out countries. So it took ICANN a decade to implement
> the IDN market, lump it with lucrative gTLDs, and now to
> arrange it such that only developed country entities can afford it.
> And then to hear it announce to the world, we are bringing
> multilingualism
> to the Internet world, presumably for the rich to make more money,
> make more money off the poor? the non-English speaker native
> speaker? locked out of the Internet because of inadequacy of
> reading English characters?
>
> If it is only myself that feels outraged, than I feel really sorry
> for the Internet community. Maybe, it is time for me to leave.
>
> So if you want to do new ASCII gTLDs, go ahead and do the 1M operation
> with CEOs with loads of bonuses, best practices, ISO9000 certified etc
> etc. But for the poorer developing world who needs IDNs, can ICANN
> consider
> waivers and aid to help run "proper" non-hot dog stand registries,
> or consider a more realistic level of operations that is a little
> bit better than a hot dog stand, maybe $100,000 a year operation.
>
> Please? for decency's sake?
Thanks, for helping to un-tangle some questions which seemed to be stuck
in the assumption that the world is all the same everywhere, and there
is a fixed economic context to be adhered to. For decency's sake - no!

World-wide human society - even Internet and domain name operations -
are different, can be different, and should be allowed and encouraged to
be different.


Norbert Klein
Cambodia
(1990-2010)


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