Just wanted to get in some of my opinions before Yokohama.* Time
I think it
is imperative that ICANN spends considerable time making decisions and implementing
these new gTLDs. While many people have demanded that everything be finalized at
Yokohama, we cannot be impatient. I want the new gTLDs just as much as many others
here do however we're dealing with the future of the Internet here. We cannot afford
mistakes. As it has been said, "Anything worth doing is worth doing right" and this
statement is no truer than in this situation. Let's take our time and get this done
right the first time. I have taken a look at the Summary of Board Actions Being Considered
for the upcoming meeting and am pleased with the agenda. I commend ICANN for not
giving into the pressure and demands urging ICANN to rush this process.
* Pre-Registrations
I
really don't want to get into the mudslinging that has been going on between the
proponents and opponents of pre-registrations. I just want to make a few comments.
It was mentioned in a previous post that everybody has had an opportunity to pre-register
.web domains since 1996. The question was asked to the effect of "How much advertising
and announcements must be done to get the word out?". I came accross the pre-registration
site in 1998 but did not pre-register any domains for the simple fact that the site
says there is no guarantee that you will get the domain. I am a hard working single
father of 2, and I frankly cannot and do not spend money for services and products
I can't be sure I'm going to get. I know that $35 doesn't sound like a whole lot,
but I'm sure I'm not the only one who really can't afford to take $35 (or any amount
of money for that matter) and spend it on something I can't be sure I'm even going
to get. Somebody had mentioned that in the early days of the Internet, people who
registered .coms never knew if .com was going to be added to the root. That may be
true, but may I remind you that in those days, it didn't cost a cent to "pre-register"
the .coms, so there was no risk involved, and nobody had to pay for something they
weren't sure they were going to get. I can definitely sympathize with people who
have pre-registered .web domains, but they knew the risks. I just don't support the
system. I'm sure I'll be told that $35 is nothing, and maybe it's not a lot, but
in my situation every dollar must be spent wisely. I'm sure that other people are
in the same situation, and would tell you too that spending money on things you're
not sure you're going to get just isn't an option.
* .eu
I fully support the
proposal for the .eu TLD. As much of Europe unites and becomes more of a single entity,
I think a TLD reflecting this unification is needed. While other proposed gTLDs are
no doubt useful and deserving, I believe that this one more than any other serves
a valuable use and should be amongst the first new TLDs released.
* Competition
I
support an open, shared, and competitive system much like the one we have today for
.com, .net, and .org addresses.
* Uniformity
While there will be several new
gTLDs released, I believe that the registration systems for each of them should be
identical or nearly identical to avoid confusion and to simplfy the registration
process.
Thank you for your time. Good luck in Yokohama.