Gandi Bar - How the domain name industry works - polluting the name space - Comments

How the domain name industry works - polluting the name space - Kommer

Kommer — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 14:15:11 +0200

Dear Joe an Kieren,

Thanks for all these insights.

The seemingly obvious suggestion seems to me to vote a "domain must be put to usefull use within a reasonable time span" or other "anti-parking/anti-wholesale" rule system that applies to the future new extentions only.

That way there are no lost revenues for the actual "parkers" and it will avoid an explosion of new parked domains due to the new extentions.

It would also be a nice way to show our capacity to improve things over time and in this case even without harming the actual profit makers in any way. It would also help to promote the new extentions since they will then be "cleaner" than the actual ones.

"We are willing to give you a brand new planet, but you have to agree that you will keep it from becoming polluted."

Seems quite reasonable, no?

Best regards!,

Kommer.

How the domain name industry works - polluting the name space - Flying

Flying — Sat, 30 May 2009 13:45:05 +0200

Useful article! I feel safe in Gandi's hands.

How the domain name industry works - polluting the name space - Joe (Gandi)

Joe (Gandi) — Fri, 29 May 2009 11:43:27 +0200

Hi Kieren,

Thanks for your very detailed response, it's great to get some ICANN feedback on the site. I agree that the ICANN governance structure does allow different parties, including domain holders, to influence decisions.

I think the problem is one of general awareness and co-ordinated action. I don't feel that the average domain holder knows they can influence this body, nor is it easy to achieve co-ordination in large enough volumes to make this decision. Which is why we raise these issues to try to increase awareness and positive action.

In this respect, the registrars and registries which are individually large and have more consistent goals can achieve a greater degree of co-ordination and specific action.

I think ICANN does a good job given the complexity of the different registry governance structures. Clearly there is more influence over the gTLDs than the ccTLDs which can be more nationally regulated.

The issue of 'polluted' domain space and what constitutes 'legitimate use' is growing and this is something that ICANN can continue to take a lead on, though the difficult part will be for all commercial companies involved to swallow a potential reduction in sales if these parked domains were put back in the pool (or perhaps they'd just be bought by people/companies who wanted to put actual websites/services on them).

Will the increased domain space following liberalisation help this, or create more of the same? (Would a second planet Earth help solve our pollution problems if we didn't clean up the first one?)

I'm at the ICANN conference in Sydney and would be very pleased to discuss some of these issues with you, and once again thank you for engaging with us on the forum. After all, we share the objective of raising the public awareness of these issues so that together, all stakeholders, we can find a solution that works for everyone.

Many thanks,

Joe

How the domain name industry works - polluting the name space - steve

steve — Fri, 29 May 2009 04:34:19 +0200

This is bad for Rick Schwartz and Frank and the other big domainers.
They will have a huge fight on their hands if ICANN decides domains being parked are in violation of some future rule they haven't passed yet.

Steven-9th best marketer on the Internet
http://sellsheets.com/

How the domain name industry works - polluting the name space - Kieren McCarthy

Kieren McCarthy — Fri, 29 May 2009 02:33:07 +0200

You're missing several very important aspects of ICANN's model of decision-making here.

ICANN was specifically designed so that no one party can exert undue influence - whether that be registries, registrars, governments, the technical community or civil society.

So with respect to your specific point: where do I as a domain name holder go to influence policy within ICANN? Well, there are several answers.

First, there is the At Large part of ICANN - an official Advisory Committee to the ICANN Board. Anyone individual user can become a part of At Large and make their views known.

You may also join the non-commercial consistency of the GNSO (the main policy making body where the registries and registrars also reside). The GNSO is actually under reform at the moment, so you have an ideal oppportunity to create your own constituency if you can get enough people together.

You apply to the Board to form a constituency and then you may end up with a vote on the GNSO Council - which makes the decisions you are concerned about.

Here is an example of the a Notice of Intent to form a CyberSecurity Constituency: http://gnso.icann.org/en/improvemen...

You apply to the Board, the Board puts your notice out for public comment and then votes on whether to approve it. If it gets approved, you are within the exact system that you fear the registries/registrars control.

Alternatively you can represent yourself as an individual and address the ICANN Board directly at an ICANN meeting. There is one coming up in Sydney at the end of June and on the Thursday of the meeting you can ask whatever you want at an open mic to the Board on stage.

If you don't want to join the ALAC, OR form a new constituency, OR attend an ICANN meeting, you have a final option - use the online question box to ask a question remotely. If it not as effective as getting personally involved but it does put the question to the Board and the staff and it will get you an answer.

For that, go here: http://www.icann.org/en/announcemen...

Or visit the ICANN blog to provide your views and opinions:
http://blog.icann.org/

If you have any more questions, please just ask.

Kieren McCarthy
General manager of public participation, ICANN

How the domain name industry works - polluting the name space - jackbravo

jackbravo — Thu, 28 May 2009 23:50:46 +0200

This really really sucks, and I fully support Gandi. You guys rock. I'd like to kick the guys who registered axai.com on the ass, but I guess there's no way a regular "user" can do this right now.