Re: [wg-c] Who should vote for new gTLDs

["Mark C. Langston" <skritch@home.com>]

On 27 July 1999, Jonathan Weinberg <weinberg@mail.msen.com> wrote:

>I've been thinking about something that may be causing us (the WG
>members) to talk past each other - it lies in the degree to which the
>answers to our questions turn on the issue of *how many* new TLDs
>ICANN should create in the short to medium term.  I'll set forth two
>polar cases to illustrate my point.
>
>	Imagine first that ICANN creates a whole lot of new gTLDs --
>say, a hundred or so.  In that context, it seems to me that the best
>way to allow "the Internet community" to decide on new TLDs is to
>allow the new registries to establish the TLDs they think people will
>want, so that members of the Internet community can decide for
>themselves which ones they'll patronize (by registering domains
>there).  It would make sense for some of those registries to be
>for-profit: The competition between TLDs will encourage those
>registries to do innovative things, will constrain their prices, will
>lead to better service, and will ensure that no new TLD operator
>becomes an instant millionaire simply because of his market position.

Jonathan, are you recommending that ICANN choose the TLDs, and then we
allow the registries decide which TLDs they will actually implement?
If this is the case, then I'd agree to that, with the following
stipulation:

I recommend that the CORE registries, who have already pre-sold
domains in the 7 CORE TLDs, be required to eliminate those pre-orders.
Otherwise, they'd be in exactly the market position you describe
above.  This would give the CORE registries an unfair advantage over
the other registries.  Particularly if no other registry will be
allowed to sell domains in those 7, due to trademark issues.

Other than that, the wide-open playing field sounds good.  Allow
both public and private registries, all offering whichever TLDs
they wish, and let the market vote with its money.

This is a good proposal.  

Of course, the question then becomes:  How are the new TLDs chosen?

This should not be as contentious as a recommendation of 7 new TLDs,
because there's enough room that most interests can be accomodated.
Therefore, I'd propose that the registries submit lists of the
new TLDs they want to sell.  The only limit on these lists would be
that they not exceed the number decided upon by ICANN.

Then, a single list of unique TLDs could be compiled from these
seperate lists.

If that list is larger than the proposed number of new TLD slots,
a process would need to be in place to handle deciding upon which
TLDs are accepted, and which are tossed.

As a first approximation, one could look at which TLDs were most
frequently requested, versus those which were most infrequently
requested by the registries.  Those that were most often requested
would have a much better chance of making the final cut than those
least frequently requested.

This does put those registries who have trademarked a TLD in an
awkward position, as they are the only ones who could make the
request.  However, this exclusivity could work for the process as
well as against it.  The registries willing to allow other registries
to sell domains in their TLDs would benefit, as other registries could
request that TLD as well, thereby increasing the probability that their
TLD will be one of the ones chosen.  Only those registries who want to
be the sole vendor of a TLD would be in jeopardy of losing out.  

Comments?

-- 
Mark C. Langston	     			Let your voice be heard:
mark@bitshift.org				     http://www.idno.org
Systems Admin					    http://www.icann.org
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