Comments Regarding Expressions of Interest Process

[Levente Ferencz <levi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Dear ICANN,

I would like to state my comments for the current Expressions of Interest 
("EOI") process, and appreciate the opportunity to make my views heard.

OVERALL SUPPORT OR NON-SUPPORT FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST
I support Expressions of Interest As a member of the Szekler/Székely ethnic 
group from Transylvania/Romania I fully support the EOI process 

SUBMISSION FEE
There is discussion about the $55,000 (USD) submission fee.   I support a high 
fee to discourage gaming.     

MANDATORY NATURE OF EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST
There is also a question about whether Expressions of Interest should be 
mandatory for those applying for a new TLD.  New TLD applicants should be 
required to submit an EOI.     

REFUNDS
The current EOI model will provide refunds of the submission fee only in 
extraordinary circumstances, or unless ICANN is unable to accept new TLD 
applications by a particular date.  Refunds should be allowed only in limited 
circumstances.     

COMMUNICATION PERIOD
ICANN's draft EOI model contemplates a four-month communication period prior to 
accepting EOI submissions. Four months is about right for the communications 
plan.     Four months for the communication period is more than enough. If the 
applicants for the “.SIC” extension could reach out and collect over 47,000 
signatures (almost 10% of the Szekler population: 
http://pontsic.org/hu/index.php?option=com_petitions&view=petition&id=2&Itemid=8&lang=en
 ), this tells me that everyone who is interested to apply for a new TLD 
already knows about the process. Further delay is unnecessary!

PUBLICATION OF DATA
Finally, there is a question about whether data collected from EOIs should be 
made public. ICANN should publish all strings and applicants.     

OTHER COMMENTS
 Thank you for ICANN for the opportunity to share my thoughts and appreciate 
the hard work to revolutionize the internet. I hope that by the end of 2010 I 
can email a thank you letter by using a “.SIC” domain name. 
Thank you also for Minds+Machines for this form and for making it so easy to 
submit my comments!  

Signed,
Levente Ferencz 

levi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[This comment comes via the ICANN comment form found at 
http://www.mindsandmachines.com/2010/01/let-icann-know-your-position-on-expressions-of-interest.
  This form provides brief descriptions of the issues and allows easy comment 
on the Expressions of Interest process.]