Re: Tired of Waiting

[jnc@ginger.lcs.mit.edu (Noel Chiappa)]

    From: "Christopher Ambler" <cambler@iodesign.com>

    >> Chris, you entirely miss the fundamental problem of monopolies. It
    >> isn't that monopolists engage in this or that *specific* practice. It's
    >> that their monopoly position gives them a *general* lever by which
    >> they can squeeze their customers. ...
    >> The possibilities for exploiting a monopoly position are only limited
    >> by the imagination of the monopolist.

    > Kent, I still agree - but how are these arguments any different for a
    > non-profit registry vs. a for-profit registry? I can't see where they
    > are any different.

The big difference is that a non-profit TLD "owner" (aka monopoly)
*inherently* has a lot less incentive to abuse their monopoly status for
financial gain. Me, I've always found that money is one of the key things
that motivates people to go off the rails.

Is it the only thing? No - and as you point out, there could still be
problems with a non-profit TLD "owner". (However, as Perry points out, there
are safeguards there - in particular the fact that the non-profit in question
is controlled by, and answers to, a wide group - unlike the for-profit
operation, which answers primarily to its shareholders/owners.)

So, those two things together - less ability to abuse the situation to produce
financial gain, and an organization which answers to a wider group - seem to a
lot of us to make non-profit TLD "owners" likely to produce a better system
than for-profit TLD "owners".

	Noel