If the Names Council recommends based on the small amount
of commentary available here, or in the less than one-hundred emails sent in, then
it's a pity and very short-sighted. Indeed, this was a very short period of time
allowed for input and the deadline should be extended.Too bad the news of this
going on wasn't widely disseminated through the usual news outlets of Wired, ZDNET
and CNET. But I believe they may have been only protecting their own interests and
not that of their public.
If the gTLD proposal "does not" go through,
this is what I would like to see happen; (I'd like to see it happen, even with gTLDs)
1)
Registrars require that all domain names must be paid up front with a credit card.
This would stop a large amount of cyber squatting.
2) For any registrar that insists
that it have a 30-day grace period, then they should be required to include on the
domain name record a notation that the name has not been paid for and, if not paid
for, when it will again be available. And then "stick" to the 30-day grace period,
not a day more.
Regarding number one above, don't reference me other real-world
examples such as houses, cars, etc. In most cases you *must* have purchased the property
up front,or you sign a binding legal document that makes you completely liable for
any and all payments if there is a grace period on payment. In other words, you sign
for the property and if no one buys, your stuck and have to pay.
Even if you're
an agent who sells for commission, you cannot bind up the property against a future
sale. Ever see a house disappear off of a street pending sale? Ever see a car hidden
from prospective buyers while someone made up their mind? Can a grocery store tell
you that you can't buy "that" bunch of bananas because they might find a different
buyer in a little while for a better price? No, none of this happens so don't whine
to me about "free enterprise". You don't own it until you pay for it and this is
what should be firmly established.
And don't whine about those without credit cards;
like I don't know what almost all people do when they need something to be paid for
by credit and don't have one, or theirs is charged to to the max, "Hey mom (dad,
sister, brother, friend, co-worker), I really need to have this domain name to make
a go of my new business, here's $70 up front, can you let me use your card so I can
secure the name?" This loophole of not paying up-front must be closed.
It's idiocy
to allow someone to reserve every word in the dictionary, by which they prevent others
from gaining a domain name and then, in the end, no sale is made.
-SMS