Re: [alac] ALAC position on VRSN settlement?

["John R Levine" <johnl@xxxxxxxx>]

> price. From comments, it seems that some members of Staff and the Board
> believe that market forces will keep the price in check.

Jeez, it's like they've been drinking neocon kool-aid.  Turning a lightly
regulated de facto monopoly into an unregulated one is not exactly a step
toward competition, particularly with the new TLD process stuck somewhere
between first gear and reverse.

> I could be wrong, but I'd be more persuaded by a report from an
> economist or something than I am by the mere reliance on the words
> "market forces."

I'm not an economist but I played one as an undergraduate, and it's clear
to me merely from counting registrations that BIZ and INFO are no
substitute for COM.  Increasing the price of COM may drive a few people
to other domains, but $1 INFO and free BE domains don't seem to have made
any inroads into COM.

I agree, I'd like the board to spend a few bucks on analyses by an
economist and a lawyer (probably both academics) who can see the big
picture and don't have an interest in the outcome.  As I said before, I
don't fault the staff's intentions, but as the old quote says, you can't
make a man understand something when his livelihood depends on his not
understanding it.

R's,
John