As a registered member of ICANN, I must admit I am puzzled
and even a little embarrassed by the association of which I am a member. To disregard
some the most popular potential new TLDs (as reflected in the MSNBC poll) such as
.xxx and .fam is without question a mistake. And, as diametrically opposed as
these two new potential suffices seem to be, what better way for ICANN to reflect
the vast spectrum of the Internet than to welcome these new domain extensions to
the .com, .org and .net family? Add to this the more eCommerce and eBusiness-oriented
proposals such as .biz and .inc, and we start to flesh out a little this varied and
dynamic spectrum, ultimately leading to what all the contributors to this forum and
ICANN should strive to attain: a way to best serve the internet user by offering
her a way to build her store, or search for a site, or whatever she chooses to do
with her domain, using the most appropriate category as to be outlined with these
new TLDs.
May I also add that, as a web hosting consultant, I have dealt with
numerous domain name registrars and, without exception, the only company I can reliably
call upon to answer my calls personally and to otherwise take care of various customer
issues (changing DNS, contact emails etc.) both politely and expeditiously is ABACUS
(which registers names under the www.names4ever.com moniker).
We need to support
companies that can manage the administration of new TLDs in a measured and responsible
manner - with the user in mind, including the assurance of user confidence - ahead
of companies whose approach is less than professional and their services inaccessible.
For this reason, as a registered member of ICANN, I ask that they reconsider their
current approach, please restore the more popular domain names that have been demoted,
assign friendly and professional companies such as ABACUS the ability to register
names under these new TLDs, and for ICANN to ultimately resubscribe to some of its
stated goals (visit Report on TLD Applications: Background http://www.icann.org/tlds/report/report-i-09nov00.htm
for more info). This includes, amongst other things, the enhancement of competition
for the registration of services and the coordination of the policy through private
sector, bottom-up, consensus-based measures. Awarding TLD registration capabilities
to a conglomerate of registrars posing as a fresh new applicant most certainly goes
against this sentiment, not to mention that it is simply a bad idea.
Finally,
all we can ask is that ICANN reexamine its originally stated goals and adhere to
them. This upcoming decision will affect the internet for years to come, and we need
to place future domain name registrations in the hands of people we can rely on.
Dunbar7376@aol.com