state gov should have no leverage

["Dale Craig" <dalecraig@xxxxxxx>]

I am considering an application for a name that is a state name. I have already
contacted the governor's office, the attorney generals office, the secretary of
state as well as the purchasing and IT departments. No one of course is aware 
of the
potential for .state nor are they even remotely interested. My response so far 
has
been one of no concern and when asked by me if anyone of them would give me
permission or a letter of "no objection", it was of course negative. 
Furthermore,
when I posed the question of .state to the IT director his response was: "what
financial benefit would this be to me"? Almost all government IT departments are
farmed out to private companies. It is unfair for ICANN to make us enlighten 
these
people.

It would seem almost impossible to get a state administrator to write a letter 
of
approval/non objection for something they either do not understand or see no 
value
in. Unless of course you have the privilege of "insider knowledge".

Also, I have contacted many people and businesses in the state that would find
tremendous benefit in purchasing or participating in this venture. Isn't the 
benefit
of the people who live in the state worth anything?

Why is only the state government the determining principle here? We have just as
much right to use the state name as the government and maybe more right. They 
have
no copyright.

Case in principle: The state is allowed to use State.gov (of course 2 letter 
such as
ca.gov). They do not allow private citizens to take advantage of registration at
state.gov. Also, they have their domain, and if they even wanted .California for
instance, it would not be shared or used for the people. For countries this is 
even
more prevalent. I am quite certain that people working for the government or 
their
"designee" would profit from this venture, once they get wind of what is going 
on
here.

If I make a case that would be very beneficial to the people of my state 
wouldn't or
shouldn't  that take preference over some letter of approval from a state 
official
that in my opinion should have no say in the matter?

Also, governments can avail themselves with .gov. It makes sense that from a
consumer interest they know that .gov is for all governments as well as the 
cctld's
for country governments. Having more choices for governments is confusing for 
the
consumer and unfair for the entrepreneur.

Dale Craig
954-599-3253