I am president of AGN Domain Name Service, Inc. In 1995 we established a registry
and made first use in commerce of the TLDs "EARTH", "USA" and "Z". We have since
added "LION" for our LionMail Service (tm) which launches in July.These TLDs are
our business product. To take them away would mean taking away our business. There
are hundreds of registries out there like ours. We employ thousands of people. Our
registrants, some of whom rely on their domains as their identity and mark in the
business world probably employ hundreds of thousands of people. ICANN's actions with
respect to .BIZ could set a precedent which would harm our business as well.
Leah
is not done fighting. I, along with several hundred other TLD operators are just
winding up for battle. You will hear MUCH more from us soon.
A few facts:
1.
ICANN has NO policy authority. They are an advisory body. The US Government owns
the A-Root and is not going to transfer control of it to any entity. ICANN can only
*recommend* TLDs, the DoC has final authority into what gets added.
2. The USG
policy is controlled by Congress. Congress does NOT like policies that run people
out of businesses - especially small businesses that employ hundreds of thousands
of businesses.
3. The US Small Business Administration does not like this either.
They are charged with protecting small businesses.
4. ORSC (www.open-rsc.org)
has been in operation for many years. We operate one of the ORSC roots (ASLAN.OPEN-RSC.ORG).
Server stats
(available at www.adns.net/current_stats.html) indicate that a growing
number
of people have been moving away from the DoC root because of ICANN.
5. The MoU
between ICANN and the DoC has a clause which prohibits ICANN from taking any action
that would harm any entity or class of entities. Inclusive Namespace registries (like
ADNS and ARNI) are just such entities.
Leah's TLD may be the only one in the crosshairs
now, but we (Inclusive Namespace TLD managers) realize that we could be next. There
is a lot of $$$ and other support lining up behind the Inclusive Namespace. ICANN
is a insignificant little California corporation that is NOT immune from litigation.
If you would all like to LEARN about the several hundred other TLDs that have
been in existence for many years, check out www.open-rsc.org or our website at www.adns.net.
The
DoC root is not the only one out there and it is subject to the laws of the United
States and the will of the People via Congress. People don't like small businesses
destroyed and people put out of business.
ICANN should have recommended the inclusion
of all the existing operational TLDs from the Inclusive Namespace, but didn't. Thats
sad.
What is for certain is that ICANNs agression against ARNI and others WILL
NOT STAND. Their policy of ignoring the existing business products of hundreds of
small businesses is immoral and probably illegal. We shall see...
John Palmer
President/CEO
AGN Domain Name Service Inc.
Owner/Operator of the EARTH, USA, Z and LION
tld.