comment on .net award

[Stephen Dahl <dizital@xxxxxxxxx>]

To Whom it May Concern,

The requirements for the next .NET registry operator are predisposed
to favor DENIC, by suggesting that "applicant's business model relies
upon multiple, rather than sole source, suppliers, to reduce the
impact of failure by any one supplier."  (RFP Part 2, Item 7)

This would seem to give DENIC a built-in advantage, since they
describe themselves as a "cooperative" of many member companies.  But
in their proposal, DENIC swings and misses on this "softball"
requirement.   Their response is only to claim that they'll
subcontract to several other firms to host name servers.

In any event, this diversity requirement is a misguided criterion for
this RFP.  A failure by the .NET registry operator is a significant
risk that cannot be mitigated just by spreading sub-contracts among
multiple service providers.   ICANN should insist upon a registry
operator with standalone financial strength we can really count on.

Stephen Dahl
BM Services
Virginia