Re: [ga] SnapNames is now whining to total strangers!

[Kent Crispin <kent@songbird.com>]

On Mon, Jun 17, 2002 at 04:29:18PM +0200, Marc Schneiders wrote:
> On Mon, 17 Jun 2002, at 12:59 [=GMT+0100], Olivier MJ Crepin-Leblond wrote:
> > I personally find this to be disgusting. Domain name speculation is
> > on-par with cowboy practices. Those endulging in it should be ashamed
> > of themselves, because it does nothing for the Internet; the only
> > incentive here, is fast cash, or a par with ticket touts. Trouble is,
> > ticket touts are illegal, and the Internet is not mature enough to shame
> > domain touting, because most actors out there today, are knee-deep
> > in it.
> 
> This is a silly analysis. If it is an analysis. Domain names are not any
> different from other scarce goods. The solution is relieving the scarcity.

On the contrary.  Domain names are, in fact, different from many other
goods.

> Impossible with tickets, not with domain names. Solve the problem at the
> root.

The problem is *not* the shortage of names at the root.  The problem is
a shortage of names in .com...  All evidence indicates that for a
substantial majority of the registrant population, .com names are much
more desirable than other names.  If people lost that mindset, then
there are 250 TLDs available, and they can soak up a lot of demand.  
But as long as that mindset persists, then there is a shortage, and 
adding new names to the root simply won't make any difference.

The only interesting question is whether adding new names might help to
reduce the mindset; evidence from the new gTLDs indicate that it is 
very tough going.  

> > One last point: domain names are not owned by registries/registrars.
> > They are merely the maintainers of the database. Too many of them
> > seem to think otherwise.
> 
> Who does own them?

Domain names are not owned by anybody.  

-- 
Kent Crispin                               "Be good, and you will be
kent@songbird.com                          lonesome."  -- Mark Twain

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