Re: [gnso-dow123] Revised draft

[Thomas Keller <tom@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Ross,

I can understand that there is a strong view that no one should
be able to gain a competitive advantage depending on what region 
he comes from but unfortunaly that is not the way the world works.
Even without ICANN there are already enough differences like the 
amount of tax a company has to pay or to charge to customers, the
ease of establishing a company under local law... that make the
international playing field uneven and it is always up to ones 
own decision (at least in theory) to choose the right conditions 
for ones own business. I often heard the argument that a company
that can't comply should simply move to a place where it can.
This argument could be reversed by saying that a registrar who
would like to have the same advantage as registrars out of other
areas could simply move there and have the same conditions. The
fun thing is that this is always regarded as "forum shopping" which
makes me wonder whether trying to avoid that registrars comply whith
their local regulations is not also some kind of "forum shopping" since 
it tries to preserve the current status which might create a disadvantage
for these registrars.

One other aspect is that it is generally assumed that local privacy
regulations will be an advantage for registrars operating under those
regulations. It might very well be an disadvantage due to the fact
that it imposes costs on the registrar to achieve what is demanded
by the regulation or that he misses an opportunity to upsell privacy
services since such practise is not permisable.

As you can see however you turn it someone might assume a advantage
or disadvantage and I guess that is a catch-22 we will never be able to
solve. Therefore creating a clear process that deals with such a situation 
(which  will come up inevitable, no matter how policy will look like) in the
future makes a lot of sence to me since it provides a minimum standard
in terms of predictability and transparency.

Best,

tom

Am 03.05.2005 schrieb Ross Rader:
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> On 03/05/2005 9:31 AM Milton Mueller noted that;
> 
> > Tim: GoDaddy achieved the number one marketshare among registrars some
> > time last month. Congrats and relax, enjoy your well-earned market
> > position, and stop playing games with individual privacy rights - you
> > will retain that market share by continuing to offer good service, not
> > by imposing rigid policies on all the world's registrars. I'd suggest
> > that your company's interests are served by achieving quick agreement on
> > an exceptions procedure and not by these kind of petty objections. 
> 
> In Tim's defense, I submit that he will be among those registrars that
> are disadvantaged by this policy. Registrars in privacy friendly
> jurisdictions like Tucows will gain the right to provide privacy
> enhanced services that Godaddy cannot.
> 
> Regards,
> 
> - --
> 
> 
> 
> 
>                        -rwr
> 
> 
> 
> Tucows Start Service: http://start.tucows.com
> 
> My contact info: http://www.blogware.com/profiles/ross
> My weblog: http://www.byte.org/
> 
> "Few things are impossible to diligence and skill. Great works are
> performed not by strength, but perseverance." - Samuel Johnson
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Gruss,

tom

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