RE: [gnso-rap-dt] Front-Running

["Neuman, Jeff" <Jeff.Neuman@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Personally speaking, I do not like all of the analogies that are being
made between the domain name industry and the financial markets.  The
financial markets were set up as just that...marketplaces for the sale
and purchase of securities (as an example).  The domain name industry
was set up to accommodate those that wanted to associate a domain name
with an IP address (because IP addresses were thought to be too
difficult to remember).  They were intended to allow persons, companies,
organizations, etc. to establish a presence and to allow others to reach
them for the exchange of information, commerce, etc.  It was not to
establish a commodities market for domain names to be bought and sold.

The fact that a domainer market has developed is a by-product. I am not
making a value judgment about domaining or domainers.  However, I
personally believe that just because a registry or registrar does
something that is perceived to be unfair to a domainer, or the fact that
an act by a registry or registrar favors or disfavors a domainer, does
not necessarily mean that that act or policy is a "registration abuse." 

This may be controversial what I am about to say, but I will say it:  If
a registry decides to provide access to certain non-registration data to
certain parties, and the provision of such data could give the recipient
of that data some sort of superior knowledge about domain names or the
industry, I do not see that as a registration abuse that we should be
discussing or is even within the scope of this group.  In other words,
traffic data for unregistered names, for example, is by definition NOT
registration data.  

Again, these are my own personal beliefs and not necessarily the views
of NeuStar.  
  

Jeffrey J. Neuman 
Neustar, Inc. / Vice President, Law & Policy


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-----Original Message-----
From: owner-gnso-rap-dt@xxxxxxxxx [mailto:owner-gnso-rap-dt@xxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of George Kirikos
Sent: Wednesday, August 05, 2009 12:23 PM
To: gnso-rap-dt@xxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [gnso-rap-dt] Front-Running


Hi again,

Just to add a few more items in "point form" that I neglected:

- when does information become "public" -- when in zone file? effects
of fast/instantaneous propagation; some TLDs might not have "real
time" instantaneous registrations
- ability of registries to distribute/sell Rapid Zone Updates to to
customers, see for example VeriSign:

http://www.icann.org/en/registries/rsep/verisign-notice-22mar07.pdf
 http://www.icann.org/en/registries/rsep/  (#2007003)

- comparison with "flash trades" in the financial world, where some
market participants have superior access to information, perhaps
partially because they are colocated with the exchanges:

http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2009/08/05/sec_to_consider_ban_o
n_flash_trades/

where high-frequency trading is a growing percentage of the marketplace

- differences between the financial world (where there is an already
existing asset in a two-sided market, buying/selling where items are
fungible) and the domain name world (each domain is unique, imperfect
substitutes, and doesn't exist until it is "created" / registered)

Sincerely,

George Kirikos
416-588-0269
http://www.leap.com/