Employ Media sTLD Charter Amendment

[John B Scanlan <j.scanlan@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Dear Chairman Dengate Thrush and Members of the Board:


I am writing on behalf of Cleveland State University Career Services
Center], to urge you to reject Employ Media's request for authority to
permit second level registration of strings that do not correspond to an
employer's name in the .jobs sponsored top level domain. My organization
would be directly and adversely affected by this request and therefore
opposes the unilateral expansion of the .jobs charter to encompass regional
and industry-specific second-level registrations.


Since 1993, the community of online employment service companies--job
boards, associations, staffing firms, newspapers and other publications
that operate job posting and/or resume search databases--has effectively
served working men and women and employers worldwide. These same
organizations have also significantly improved the career prospects of
veterans, minorities, disadvantaged persons and those affected by natural
disasters such as Hurricane Katrina. They have, in every respect, acted as
"the Sources of Success," the trademark of the International Association of
Employment Web Sites (http://www.employmentwebsites.org), their only
industry trade association.


This community is now threatened by the proposed expansion of the .jobs top
level domain (TLD). The charter holder is attempting to extend the
application of the TLD from its approved community--direct employers--into
the online employment services community by introducing geocentric (i.e.,
Atlanta.jobs, NewYork.jobs, Athens.jobs) and occupation specific (i..e,
nurse.jobs, salesperson.jobs, systemsanalyst.jobs) web sites. It now has a
proposal to implement this plan before the governing board of the Internet
Corporation for Assigned Names & Numbers (ICANN).


This proposal violates both the spirit and the letter of the charter
holder's contract with ICANN. No less important, it will grievously harm
the online employment services community and therefore my organization by
confusing the job seekers and employers who have long been the customers of
the community.


Sincerely,


John B. Scanlan
Assistant Director, Career Services Center

Cleveland State University
2121 Euclid Avenue , RW 280
Cleveland, Ohio 44115
216.687.2236 (office)
216.687.9313 (fax)
www.csuohio.edu/career