The purpose of ICANN was to introduce competition into
the sale of domain names. Yes, we have all heard the story of what a wonderful job
NSI has done in opening up the market. But, it is all a bunch of lies! They still
make $6 off the sale of every domain name regardless of who is selling it. This doesn't
sound like competition to me... this sounds like job security. VeriSign should
NOT be given unlimited control of ".com" until the following steps are taken:
1)
ICANN is given full control of the database and the root servers.
2) Hundreds
of new top level domains are in place and being sold by independent registries (like
IOD's .web) that are not paying NSI or VeriSign any money at all.
3) The Membership
At Large is given the chance to elect the remaining four Board Members that were
promised 2 years ago.
4) The squatters on the ICANN Board have resigned their
positions.
5) ICANN conducts all meetings in an open and transparent way and there
is public input regarding the decisions that are made at such meetings.
6) Expired
domain names that are being "held ransom" by NSI and auctioned off on their site
"GreatDomains.com" must be put back into the pool and be available to purchase again
at base cost ($35 each).
Network Solutions (now owned by VeriSign) has held a monopoly
on the domain name market since 1992. They should be completely barred from profitting
from the sale or resale of domains in any way shape or form. Until they relinquish
FULL control of the database and become just another registrar (like all the "competition")
they have a completely unfair advantage. They control the database, they sell the
domains and they even resell the domain names! This is a monopoly and completely
unfair for small companies who wish to compete in this field.
Not only should
Network Solutions (aka VeriSign) be barred from making a profit in this field - they
should be investigated by Congress for serious violations. Recently it has come to
light that they are selling personal information that they obtain through the administration
of their whois database. This greatly affects people who run small businesses from
their home. Their home address, phone number and name are being sold by VeriSign
for a profit! This is a severe violation of personal privacy! No other registrar
in the market has the unfair advantage that VeriSign has.
Until the 6 points that
I listed above are met - VeriSign should not be given anything! We should stick to
the original deal from 1998.