RE: [gnso-vi-feb10] So, what's best for consumers? Anyone? Bueller?

[Milton L Mueller <mueller@xxxxxxx>]

Just a terminological issue. The situation Volker describes below is _not_ 
vertical integration; it is what should be called cross ownership with the 
ability to sell your own TLD while retaining functional and contractualy 
separation of Rys and Rrs. It corresponds to point #2 I made in my initial 
response to Antony. 

However, Volker suggests that the retail price of the registry-owned registrar 
would be regulated, or somehow artificially fixed to remain above that of 
registrars. That seems a bit pointless to me. 

True vertical integration means that there is no distinction between a registry 
and the registrar and there is no requierment for the registry to offer "equal 
or better access to all registrars."  I think we need to maintain a verbal 
distinction here. 

--MM
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Effectively, even full vertical integration need not be problematic or
harmful to the consumer in itself, as long as it is properly regulated
and the registry is required to allow equal or better access to all
registrars. It is not the consumers that need immediate built-in
protection in scenarios of vertical integration, but rather the
competing registrars, which will in turn protect the consumers. By
defining the level of protection of competition required, we would be
able to allow gTLD registries to own registrars or registrars to invest
in new gTLD registries with no adverse effect to consumers.