Steve - all of us had wanted a straight Landrush and would have liked a chance at
a Landrush II as you describe. But we are dealing with Afilias - how many of
us now think they will energetically or even half effectively purge the frauds in
our lifetime?I also think that the fact that Hal Lubsen's DomainBank is making
refunds is further confirmation that Afilias is not now - if it ever was really
seriously considering what we have all wanted - a Landrush II with the freed
names in the barrel and our preregistrations standing.
I think the best we can
now do is to bring pressure on other registrars to follow DomainBank, and to maintain
a watch and pressure on Afilias to purge all the frauds, those on the board, those
amongst the registrars, and all the other cheats.
I think getting a Landrush II
or a refund are both big asks - but I think a refund, while unlikely, is better odds
than Landrush II.
Why don't we wait to see what sort of forum feeling we get, wait
until we have had a response from the registrars (I am writing to each of mine now
and planning to contact each several times if need be.), and if need be, we switch
our efforts back to achieving a Landrush II if more registrars don't come to the
party.
Who knows, if we are effective in applying pressure for refunds, Afilias
may reconsider the benefits of a thorough purge of frauds and an equitable Landrush
II instead of copping flack from registrars not wanting to part with preregistration
fees.
regards