Stifling innovation and competition

[Philip.R.Keown@xxxxxxxxx]

As a practitioner in the field of Technology Risk for the last thirty 
years, I have been privileged to see the growth of the internet at first 
hand.  The principles of open access and the internet as a resource for 
all have allowed the most rapid period of change and innovation ever seen, 
bringing huge benefits to commerce and to individuals.  And now that the 
underlying infrastructure is sophisticated enough to provide enough speed 
and bandwidth, the growth of cloud-based solutions provides businesses 
large and small with new opportunities and business models.

Within the virtual world, organisations and individuals establish 
themselves as trusted through what they do and what they say, and it is 
the open-ness of that world that drives genuine competition and innovation 
for everyone's benefit.  To allow individual organisations to control 
sections of the internet ? and in particular to control the generic TLD 
"cloud" ? is anti-competitive and contrary to the very principles on which 
the internet was created.

I urge ICANN to prevent this closed registry from being implemented.

Phil Keown - Grant Thornton UK LLP

 
http://www.grant-thornton.co.uk 

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