[gnso-vi-feb10] 360 Degree Market Analysis with a focus on the consumer

["Michael D. Palage" <michael@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Jothan,

 

I think as a working group we need to undertake a 360 degree analysis of the
marketplace . Than being said I think the primary focus should be on what is
in the best interest of consumers.  

 

Getting back to the examples used in the survey. I selected .COMCAST as an
hypothetical TLD because they are my current ISP of choice. I am generally
happy with the service that Comcast provides me, therefore why do I need to
interject another party between me and my ISP? While I would view this as a
nuisance, what would the impact/inconvenience  be on less sophisticated
users. In the PENDR Working Group I often used the benchmark of does this
proposed policy make this easier or more difficult for my mom to use the
Internet?

 

Another hypothetical omitted from the survey was that of a .LAW TLD.  As an
attorney I pay annual membership fees to the State Bar, it would be a lot
more convenient for me as a consumer to interact with them to ensure that
any additional whois elements necessary for my inclusion into the .LAW TLD
were taken care of by them since they already have that data.  While I am
happy GoDaddy customer in connection with my  existing gTLD registrations,
having GoDaddy stand between me and the .LAW registry does not represent my
best interests, does not increase my user experience, and is likely to
impede innovation and choice.

 

Just my two cents.

 

Best regards,

 

Michael

 

 

 

 

 

 

From: owner-gnso-vi-feb10@xxxxxxxxx [mailto:owner-gnso-vi-feb10@xxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Jothan Frakes
Sent: Friday, March 26, 2010 1:28 PM
To: Gnso-vi-feb10@xxxxxxxxx
Subject: [gnso-vi-feb10] Looking at this from the Registrars as Channel
Perspective and that benefit...

 

Hi-

In our efforts within the VIWG, I have noticed and it has been brought to my
attention that we're looking at things through the prism angle of the
registry.

I am in no way expressing the Registrar Stakeholder perspective on this, nor
have I vetted this message with them.  I want only to aid the dialog within
this working group by taking a perspective of the registrar channel into
consideration in the process of our efforts.

For the benefit of the list activities, I would encourage people interested
in some of the things that a registrar might be taking into consideration in
the new TLD launch process
to view a presentation that I did in October of 2008 at the CENTR General
Assembly in Piza, Italy.  

The presentation is from an aggregated applicant perspective and discussions
that had occurred in Paris at the 2008 meeting and takes into consideration
bullet points from conversations with many of the applicants and communities
seeking to apply for new TLDs.

Applicants (not to me confused with registries or registry service
providers) look to the registrars as a channel to reach a larger audience,
adoption, and ultimately natural use.  Registrars come in a variety of types
of services and business models, support a variety of languages, and offer
cultural and local advantages due to geographical diversity.

Slides 7-10 are related to 'Channel' and worth a look because they focus in
a little bit on those areas.
https://www.centr.org/main/lib/g1/4622-CTR.html (click download)

I'll caveat the slides to state that there was no DAG available at the time
the presentation was made, and that presentation predates the 2009 RAA and
any nuances that it contains which might have changed since would not be
reflected.

Still, the information contained in it might prove helpful for our
discussions, take what you like and leave the rest.

-jothan

Jothan Frakes
+1.206-355-0230 tel
+1.206-201-6881 fax