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Username: bldigrn
Date/Time: Mon, October 30, 2000 at 5:59 PM GMT
Browser: Microsoft Internet Explorer V5.01 using Windows NT 5.0
Score: 5
Subject: please help me understand "hoarding"

Message: 		 

 
                               
      Julie,
I read your first posting and wasnt going to reply but after your second message, I feel some clarification is in order.  Clearly, there is a misunderstanding on your part as to the responsibilities of dotTV.  It is my understanding that dotTV has been charged by the nation of Tuvalu to administer its top level domain (.tv) on a for-profit basis.  That is, Tuvalu, which owns the .tv domain name outright, has arranged with the dotTV Corp. to sell its domain names to the public for a gain.

Whether it is dotTVs intent to sit on their inventory for the time being is of no consequence to anyone but themselves and their shareholders (including, to a very large extent, Tuvalu itself).  They can sit, stand, hop, skip, and jump on whatever they want in the .tv top-level domain and yet there is no basis to criticize this company for somehow hoarding, sitting on their inventory, or otherwise making its store of domain names available on a select basis.

There is no presumption that .tv names should all be available or priced in a certain way.  We live in a market economy and a company can deploy its assets and sell its inventory however it chooses.  Thats whats meant by the term capitalism.  To frame it another way: precisely what are you proposing should be done with .tv domain names?  Before you answer, ask yourself whether or not what you believe should be done in any way correlates to an imposition on the rights of a private enterprise to be compelled to act in a certain way against its will.  If I was to say that you should donate all your personal possessions to the Salvation Army because its fair or because, in my opinion, you are a purveyor of public trust, would you agree with me?

Besides, from what I gather after reading the dotPRO Consortiums proposal, dotTV is but one member of this consortium that includes Lycos, XO Communications, and a few other companies.  Taken individually, none of these companies is, or should be expected to be, a purveyor of public trust with regard to their various lines of business.  Together, as a collective applicant for a top-level domain, they most certainly DO intend to be purveyors of public trust, and you might notice that they have submitted the single lowest bid (I think it is $3.50) on Registrar pricing for new names.  Their application even mentions the fact that they envision the next top level domain registry to resemble a public utility.

One final point: dotTV and idealab! didnt take over the .tv ccTLD.  They licensed it from Tuvalu for millions of dollars, a huge stake in the company, and a seat on the Board of Directors.

-Blondie

     
     
     
 

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