RE: Employ Media sTLD Charter Amendment

[Jim Blair <jimblair_sphr@xxxxxxxxx>]

Peter Dengate Thrush, Chairman
Members of the Board of Directors
International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
4676 Admiralty Way, Suite 330
Marina Del Rey, CA 90292-6601
USA


RE: Employ Media sTLD Charter Amendment

Dear Chairman Dengate Thrush and Members of the Board:

I am writing on behalf of The Staffing Management Association of NJ, 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. Our constituents 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 on-line 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. 

The separate and distinct communities of employers, staffing agencies, third 
party recruiters, job boards, and even career services are 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 on-line 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 on-line 
employment services community and therefore my organization by confusing the 
job seekers and employers who have long been the customers of the community. 

Sincerely,


Jim Blair SPHR
732-274-0466
jimblair_sphr@xxxxxxxxx