[ga] SnapNames is now whining to total strangers!

[Loren Stocker <loren@800.net>]

Hi All,

Now SnapNames has wrapped themselves in the flag of equal opportunity for the
helpless public. Duh?

How is John Q Netizen going to feel about equal access when the same
speculators put their "substantial cash payments" towards buying all the best
WLS options? How naive does Mr. Holmberg think we are?

All that's really needed is for Verisign to take uncertainty out of the domain
drops -- shorten the window, publish the times, and let everyone know when to
quit. That's transparent, fair, first-come-first-serve, and it's free, free,
free!

Best Regards,

Loren Stocker
www.evil.biz!

PS: We love Snapnames! But they should stay at the Registrar level 
and compete like everyone else -- and quit sucking up to Verisign!

Petition follows>>>

--- kjel holmberg <kjelh@Snapnames.com> wrote:
> From: kjel holmberg <kjelh@Snapnames.com>
> To: kjel holmberg <kjelh@Snapnames.com>
> CC: "'equalaccess@snapnames.com'"
> <equalaccess@snapnames.com>
> Subject: Your voice counts right now - sign brief
> petition for equal acces
> s to Internet domain names.
> Date: Thu, 13 Jun 2002 14:03:58 -0700
>
>
> June 12, 2002
>
> Dear Domain Name System Users (and Friends of
> SnapNames),
>
> The purpose of this letter is to ask your support
> for a critical improvement
> to the domain name system that solves the following
> problem: Typical domain
> name users have almost no access to the over 800,000
> valuable domain names
> that expire and should be available for
> re-registration every month.
>
> Please take a moment to review the attached
> petition. If you agree, please
> reply with comments to:
>
> equalaccess@snapnames.com
> <mailto:equalaccess@snapnames.com>
>
> Please reply as soon as possible. The Internet
> Corporation for Assigned
> Names and Numbers (ICANN), the domain name
> industry's oversight
> organization, will consider this issue at its next
> meeting, June 24-28.
> Those opposing your access to previously-owned
> domain names have made their
> case strenuously, so it's critical that ICANN hear
> from supporters of equal
> access, who have yet to be heard.
>
> Thank you for your time and input.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> SnapNames.com, Inc.
> Portland, Oregon
>
>
>
> Please circulate this petition to anyone else who
> may be concerned about
> this important issue.
>
>
> P E T I T I O N
>
> To the Board of Directors of the Internet
> Corporation for Assigned Names and
> Numbers (ICANN):
>
> We, the undersigned domain name and Internet users,
> intellectual property
> owners, members of the general public, and
> representatives of the same, are
> writing to urge the Board of Directors of the
> Internet Corporation for
> Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to endorse the
> proposed Wait Listing
> Service (WLS) at the ICANN meeting in Bucharest,
> Romania, June 24-28, 2002.
>
> The WLS is a fair and sensible system that lets
> legitimate mainstream users
> acquire expiring domain names. The WLS represents a
> tremendous improvement
> over the status quo in which a handful of
> professional domain name buyers
> purchase preferential access to expiring names from
> registrars and exclude
> the general public. The WLS represents the first
> significant innovation in
> the domain name system since the establishment of
> formal Internet
> governance. The WLS is necessary to ensure the
> general public equal access
> to all domain names.
>
> There is currently no orderly, transparent, and fair
> system for allocating
> the approximately 800,000 domain names that expire
> every month. Instead,
> here is how most domain name consumers are locked
> out today:
>
> 1. The registry for .com, .net, and .org deletes
> expired domain names
> from its system every day, and places those names
> into a special pool. All
> ICANN-accredited domain name registrars have an
> identical level of access to
> this pool, regardless of the size of their customer
> bases.
> 2. Instead of making access to the deleted name pool
> available to the
> general public, some registrars serve only a handful
> of customers, often in
> return for substantial cash payments.
> 3. These privileged customers, using advanced
> hardware and software to
> query the deleted name pool thousands of times per
> second, are constantly
> ready and waiting to intercept expired domain names
> the millisecond they are
> deleted from the registry. The registry has
> reported that there can be up
> to 500,000 registration requests per name.
> 4. There is virtually no way for the typical user to
> compete
> effectively for deleting names in this environment.
> 5. Some domain name buyers operate as speculators
> who attempt to
> "ransom" acquired names to legitimate domain name
> users. Because the
> minimum cost of pursuing a domain name dispute is
> $1,500 (the typical
> minimum dispute resolution filing fee), this figure
> is often an unaffordable
> starting point for negotiations.
> 6. Because this status quo is so beneficial to a few
> individuals and
> companies, it is in their interest that the Internet
> community not be aware
> of their operations. That's why it's virtually
> impossible to find their
> services advertised. To this point: A recent study
> of nearly 1300 valuable
> deleted domain names determined that fully 97.9% had
> been re-registered by
> only a small handful of professionals using means
> not available to
> mainstream users, while a mere 2.1% had been
> registered on registrars'
> public websites. (See article entitled "Of, By, and
> For a Mere Handful of
> People." State of the Domain, April 2002, pp. 19,
> 22. Available online at
> www.sotd.info).
> 7. The WLS solves the problem of unequal access by
> creating a
> transparent, fair, first-come-first-served system.
> ICANN should not be
> distracted from the real problem-providing equal
> public access to expiring
> names-by red herring issues, such as:
> a. "Inadvertent deletion": the accidental failure
> of a
> registrant to renew a registration, despite multiple
> warnings from its
> registrar. (An emotional issue, to be sure, but one
> affecting just a
> miniscule fraction of the 800,000 names that expire
> monthly-and one that is
> easily solved by registrars themselves);
> b. "Competition": the imaginary claim that the
> WLS
> would eliminate something that does not actually
> exist today, except to the
> extent that professionals compete with each other in
> a closed environment
> that excludes over 99% of the public;
> c. "Price": the self-contradictory argument that
> the
> WLS's proposed $35 wholesale price would be too low
> to deter speculators,
> but too high for mainstream users.
>
> Without the support of Internet users, we believe
> the current situation will
> further deteriorate as more domain name registrars
> unfairly devote their
> registry connections solely to just a few privileged
> customers. Without the
> WLS, mainstream consumers such as trademark holders,
> businesses,
> individuals, and charitable organizations will
> continue to be denied the
> possibility of acquiring valuable expired names.
>
> ICANN should therefore endorse the WLS immediately.
>
> To make your voice heard in favor of equal access,
> please reply with
> comments to:
>
> equalaccess@snapnames.com
> <mailto:equalaccess@snapnames.com>
>
>
> Please circulate this petition to anyone else who
> may be concerned about
> this important issue.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Kjel P. Holmberg
> Business Development Manager
> SnapNames
> 115 NW 1st Ave, 3rd Floor
> Portland, Oregon 97209
> kjelh@snapnames.com
> 503.219.9990 ext. 236
>


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