Q1: In the introduction of new TLDs, what steps should be taken to coordinate with
the Internet Engineering Task Force, the Internet Architecture Board, and other organizations
dealing with Internet protocols and standards?You should not "coordinate" with
them at all! Give them a time-limit (say 6 months) and then let them make the complete
recommendation for a decision. After they have presented their findings - public
comments should be accepted. As another astute poster mentioned - the knowledge of
the last 6 years should be taken into consideration to save countless hours of rehashing
the same material over and over again.
Q2: What stability concerns are associated
with the initial phases of registration within the TLD?
Obviously the massive onslaught
of registrations on "opening day" is going to cause problems. Depending upon the
TLDS that are chosen - this could be controlled, or it could bring down servers.
The biggest problem is the 'Who's first?' question. How will they implement this
registration? A round-robin method? or some other time-share system? The second that
the TLD string is announced, speculators will be loading dictionary files to try
to "land grab" all the common words - create the same 'artificial scarcity' that
exists in the .com TLD now. Overload is the primary stability concern.
Q3: What
can be done to eliminate or reduce these stability concerns?
Round-robin schemes,
lottery, or time-share of some sort. Possibly allowing a 'pre-registration' process
(with no promise or guarantee of any kind) to determine which names are going to
cause the most problematic. There are probably only 2 or 3 people in the world
who want 'www.lepidopterist.tld' but you can bet money that 10,000 or more will be
in line to register 'www.buy.tld'.
Q4: Would these stability concerns be magnified
by introducing a large number of TLDs at once?
Actually I think the opposite would
hold true. Granted, there are some 'professional cybersquatters' out there who would
in line for all of them. But, for the average company (or individual) the more choices
there are - the less chance there would be of created a run on opening day. After
all, if I could choose from 30 different TLDS, I wouldn't feel so bad if my first
two choices were already taken - I would have 28 other options to select from. The
only reason that .coms are costing upwards of 7 figures is 'Artificial Scarcity'.
There is a short supply and a very high demand. Increase the supply and eventually
you will catch up with and fulfill the demand.
Q5: Are there any practical means
of reversing the introduction of a significant new TLD once it goes into operation?
A
"significant" one? No. A "trivial" one? Yes... If you introduce something like .web
as a TLD you are going to have millions of people hopping on board. And, once they
spend the time, money and effort to set up servers, sites, and establish a name for
themselves - they aren't going to be too happy if you pull the plug on them.
However, if you use a TLD such as .xyz and only 5,000 or so have registered there
- and you refund the price that they paid to register their domain name. Then, you
could quite possibly reverse the decision and get away with it. They aren't going
to be happy about it. But, you can deal with 5,000 pissed off people much better
than you can 1,000,000+ irate Netizens.
Q6: Is it feasible to introduce a TLD on
a "trial basis," giving clear notice that the TLD might be discontinued after the
trial is completed?
Yes. If you do not charge up-front for the TLD, or if you offer
full refunds to the people who have bought the domains. You could implement a "rent-to-own"
scheme whereby you charge monthly for the domain - with the option to buy larger
blocks of time if the trial is successful. So, say that you are charging USD $35
/ yr. for a domain name in the new TLD. If you charge the customer $2.90 per month
for the right to use the name - and then cancel it after 6 months, you could in theory
offer a "trial basis". However, if the trials go well, and you decide to keep the
TLD - the customer would have the option of buying 1 - 3 year blocks of time (pro-rated
for the amount that he already paid into the system).
Q7:
To ensure continued stability, what characteristics should be sought in a proposed
TLD and in the organization(s) proposing to sponsor and/or operate it?
I would
look for these characteristics: history (how is there past performance?), reliability
(do they have a proven track record?), longetivity (is their company or organization
enduring?), leadership (do they have good management?), public opinion (does the
public like them? do they trust them?).
For the record I must state - Network Solutions
should automatically be disqualified from participating in this effort. They have
held and iron-grip on the DNS for years and they are a monopoly. Until they render
FULL control to the root servers to ICANN (in 7 years) they should not be allowed
to create, run, manage, operate, consult, control, or be involved with a TLD in any
way shape or form. Any company who already has a conflicting intrest regarding TLDS
should NOT be allowed to be involved.
In their SEC filing (form S-3) from 1999
Nework Solutions clearly states:
"... promoting the use of .com, .net and .org
top level domains as the preferred Internet identities"
This clearly is not
the type of company I want to be buying my new TLD from!