RE: [bc-gnso] TLD pre-registration

["HASSAN Ayesha" <ayesha.hassan@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Dear Philip,

It may be also be helpful to consider the following:

*This is an important proposal for the community to consider, and it
should be discussed more fully at the ICANN Nairobi meeting (not decided
in February if that is the plan)
*Difficult for business to assess the EoI given that the final
application process for new gTLDs is still being developed; both will
impact broader business.
*Running two important comment periods simultaneously (Affirmation
reviews and EoI) and over the holidays and new year period, makes it
difficult for some organizations to effectively run their own internal
consensus building processes to provide substantive comments on both
topics.

Best regards,
Ayesha

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-bc-gnso@xxxxxxxxx [mailto:owner-bc-gnso@xxxxxxxxx] On Behalf
Of Philip Sheppard
Sent: lundi 18 janvier 2010 10:56
To: bc-gnso@xxxxxxxxx
Subject: [bc-gnso] TLD pre-registration


This is out for consultation.
The public comment period opens on 18 December 2009 and closes on 27
January
2010. Details at:
http://www.icann.org/en/public-comment/#draft-eoi
<http://www.icann.org/en/public-comment/#draft-eoi>  

 
My draft initial comments are as follows.
Comments ?
If there is consensus / support I'd be happy to write something up as a
BC
position.
Philip
 
--------------------
We oppose the concept of pre-registration and expressions of interest
(EOI) for
the following reasons.

1. Distraction
The EOI process should not distract ICANN from the fundamental task of
addressing unresolved issues relating to new TLDs such as trade mark
protection
and malicious conduct. 

2. A true pre-registration
The proposed mandatory EOI process with a $55,000 fee is described as a
pre-registration suggesting that it is not reversible regardless of the
unresolved overarching issues such as trade mark protection and
malicious
conduct. 

3. Inconsistency
The principle of pre-registration is inconsistent with all previous
ICANN
practice.

4. Ignores market dynamics 
Brand owners may feel compelled to enter into an EOI purely for
defensive
reasons, so that they do not suffer when a speculator is given rights in
their
brand.  There seems to be no facility to allow competition for the same
domain
names after pre-registration. Moreover, pre-registration may tip-off
competitors
to new business models prematurely.

5. A lower than market fee may encourage speculation
Speculators may pay $55,000 to secure rights to certain domains instead
of
$185,000 in the hope of selling on. This is surely not the intent of
ICANN's
Board.

6. Applicants are forced to invest blind
Because there are unresolved issues, the pre-registration model forces
applications in ignorance of potential future costs. This is poor
business
practice.

 
Philip Sheppard