RE: [registrars] PersonalNames.com
Title: Message actually this is argumentative from all angles. and ifact i think
required detailed discussion.
while
it is indeed a fact of concern that a registry has begun selling domain names
directly, i was actually loooking at voicing this in far greater detail with
regards to various other issues.
for
instance
- the
.pro registry is very closly associated with register.com
-
afilias is held by several registrars
-
verisign offcourse continues to be at the helm of the Registrar and Registry
hand-in-gloves saga
It is
indeed a concern for those of use who are unfortunately only stuck at being
Registrars. Do not get me wrong. I have nothing against fair business and
capitalising on business opportunties. However past experience has led me to
believe that on several occassions registrars who also run a registry have taken
advantage of that position, either by having access to information, or the
ability to control transfer pricing etc.
this
tends to destablisie the fair playing ground and fair competition rules that
ICANN has attempted to create by having an accreditation process. While it will
not cease that in most new TLD Registry applications, a fair amount of
Registrars will continue to apply (after all we know the business well enuf), i
am wondering then that eventually you would probably have a bundle of registrars
controlling specific registries too. Offcourse there are not as many TLDs to go
around as there are registrars, and so some of us will always be at the unfair
end of the deal.
Therefore, though I am not against someone doing business, I would wish
to see ICANN implement stronger controls and measures of audit, for those
Registries who are also Registrars (or viceversa) to ensure that issues such as
Transfer pricing are taken care of. Infact similar principles already exist in
common business law for parent-subsidiary relationships across countries to
ensure that a company does not use controlling stake as an advantage to escape a
tax regime. It is my experience however that transfer pricing or other
arrangements between a Registry and Registrar who have close ties are extremely
difficult to detect or control. In that respect, while the Excom should have a
conf call, I am wondering whether there exists any solution to ensure compliance
(short of making a rule that a registry may not control a registrar and
viceversa)
bhavin
|