RE: [gnso-vi-feb10] Notice: VI Call Thursday with the Economists Salop/Wright at 20:UTC

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

Milton, my references to "in theory" were all to starting from scratch in a 
perfect world where there never was a monopoly.  The point was that in theory 
we would have never had the issues we did and in the perfect world we could 
have started from scratch with no restrictions on competition, no distinction 
of registries, registries, resellers, etc.  

But we do not live in the perfect world, we are not starting from scratch and 
have to develop all policies and actions around the world we live in today.  So 
Jeff E's theory of benefits to consumers ignores the reality of the world we 
live in today.

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


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-----Original Message-----
From: Milton L Mueller [mailto:mueller@xxxxxxx] 
Sent: Thursday, April 29, 2010 1:33 PM
To: Neuman, Jeff; Michael D. Palage; Gnso-vi-feb10@xxxxxxxxx
Subject: RE: [gnso-vi-feb10] Notice: VI Call Thursday with the Economists 
Salop/Wright at 20:UTC

> In theory, from day one there should have been multiple TLDs by
> multiple TLD providers.

But there wasn't. So Economic theory, if that is the "theory" you are talking 
about, _does_ tell you useful things about what kind of consequences you can 
expect when you artificially restrict the number of TLDs, as we have done for 
years.

> In theory, from day 1, we should never have a
> an artificial distinction between registries and registrars.

Wrong. Economic analysis often concludes that if one element of a two-stage 
production process is monopolized and another element is potentially 
competitive, you might try to separate the two. 

> In theory today we should have no distinction between registries, registrars 
> and
> resellers.

The point, however, is that economic theory gives you some basis for analyzing 
the actual consequences of having such distinctions.  

> In theory, from an economic standpoint, there should be no
> equal access requirements.

Utterly false. If a pair of TLDs (.com, .net) constitutes 80% of the market and 
are both controlled by a single company, then from an economic standpoint it 
makes a great deal of sense to have equal access requirements - to .com and 
.net. There are precedents in many areas, local-long distance telecom after 
1982 being an example. The theory also tells you that you may not need the same 
access requirements to a nondominant, new TLD as you do for a dominant, 
long-established one. 

> In theory, Registries should be able to use...In theory....

etc, etc. By making these comments I presume you think you are somehow 
discrediting " "economic analysis" or "theory." You are only revealing your 
ignorance of both.