Members of ICANN,By now, I'm sure you've probably
ready nearly thousands of complaints
as to the possible revisions of the NSI agreement,
especially the
portion restricting registration of .org domains to non-profit
orgainzations
only. While I applaud your slightly-outdated efforts to
try and regain order and
structure in the TLD system, I strongly ask
you think about the possible consequences
of restricting .org
registration.
While I agree that some order could improve
the TLD system, a
retroactive solution just will not work. People (in particular
individuals
such as myself who register a domain as a means of
personal expression and a creative
outlet) have already taken
advantage of the current schema of TLD registration,
and it would be
in bad form to start a retroactive limitation of registration.
While
I'm all for non-profits having their own exclusive domain,
redelegating
the existing domains (which many people have spent their
hard-earned personal
funds on) could quickly earn you a lot of enemies.
There are many people who really
appreciate the Internet. Myself, like
others and many of you, even make their
living off of it. These same
people have helped to further encourage the growth
of the Internet by
investing in its infrastructure, by purchasing (or in NSI's
case,
leasing) domain names. Unfortunately, with the dot-com boom that
recently
subsided, NSI made it undeniably clear to all companies that
they NEED to make
their 'claim in cyberspace' by registering domains
for themselves. This leaves
little left for individuals who want to
find a way of expressing themselves. I
personally own several .org
domains, and do not plan to relenquish any of them,
because each is an
extension of myself, my creativity, and my contribution to
the digital
world I now live in. A digital world that you helped to create, and
NSI
helped to exploit.
Please think of this, along with the new gTLDs that will be
forthcoming,
as a means of looking to the future. Don't take .org
domains from the people that
support you (and other Internet non-profits).
Thanks,
Michael Proto
...helping
to build the Internet infrastructure...