[Issues] Re: [Techtalk] activists, a mission for you!

[Carla Schroder]

What it does is give Verisign, now owners of the evil and horrible Network 
Solutions, even more monopolistic control of domain names. There can be rules 
about how to handle expired domains without giving the keys to the kingdom to 
Verisign. They will get a cut of every single transaction, reducing all other 
registrars to Verisign resellers. Customers will pay, whether they 
successfully acquire an expired domain name or not. It does not address 
making expired names available in a reasonable length of time- just finding a 
way to make people pay for the privilege of getting nothing.

Take a good look in Verisign's proposal for all the restrictions: no domain 
transfers. No refunds. No dispute resolution.

It will do away with registrar competition, which is bad for customers. 
SnapNames, the proposed Verisign partner, charges $24 whether you win an 
expired name or not. NameSeller charges $10, when you actually get it.

What we really need are more TLDs- it's absolutely silly the way it is now. 
It creates an artificial shortage of domain names, which props up monoplistic 
monsters like Network Solutions. ICANN was supposed to fix this. ICANN is 
just a stooge for Verisign, I'm very disappointed in them. 

Meanwhile, I'm agin anything that benefits Verisign/NetSol. What's good for 
them is bad for customers, as anyone who has ever done business with them 
will attest. I suggest reading Dotster's .pdf statement, referenced in my 
original post, and the Verisign document, below in Jenny's post. 

For further information, a 'verisign' search on Slashdot turns up a lot of 
articles- read with the usual grain of salt, of course, but there's a lot of 
good information there. These people are more brazen than Microsoft, and have 
way too much control of an essential public resource.

Carla

On Monday 15 July 2002 04:03 pm, you wrote:
> I read the WLS proposal from Verisign*.  I do think it's a bad idea, but
> I also can't really see Dotster's point.  From reading the proposal
> quickly, here's a summary plus comments in parenthesis:
>
> The Waiting List Service exists as a way to manage what happens when
> domain names expire. The way you get on the waiting list is to buy a
> subscription to a currently registered domain.  You do this through your
> registrar, not Verisign as they will not be dealing with subscribers
> directly.  Only one subscription may exist at a time for a domain name, so
> your registrar would check with Verisign to see if a subscription exists.
> If it does, then you can't subscribe. If it doesn't, then Verisign will
> let the registrar setup a subscription for a fee.  The registrar passes on
> this fee to the consumer plus any profit they wish to make. When the
> domain name you've subscribed for expires, you have first dibs.
>
> My analysis: This might do away with some current abuse. I was surfing
> Usenet and there's some evidence that some registars are doing some funny
> things when domains expire, such as keeping them for themselves and
> auctioning to the highest bidder**.  The WLS would be a way to centralize
> what happens to expired domain names so that things are out in the open.
> This is a very marginal improvement.  It does this by giving Verisign a
> huge revenue stream potential.  But since it goes through second-level
> registrars like Dotster, it also gives the other registrars a (smaller)
> revenue stream potential.  I think Dotster's reason for complaining is
> because they currently have a service similar to what Verisign is
> proposing; having to go with Verisign's proposal means a higher cost to
> the registrant, and also means that Dotster would need to share profits
> (and possibly have smaller margins).
>
> I do like the idea that all domain expirations should be handled the same
> way, and not up to the whim of individual registrars.  I also think there
> should be a waiting period before domains expire.  This particular idea is
> problematic, though.  It does do a little to standardize what happens to
> expired domains and it does give everyone some kind of involvement.  This
> is of some benefit to registrants.  However, I think this proposal is more
> about shifting who profits from registrants.  Currently, companies like
> Dotster probably profit more than Verisign; also, domain vultures who grab
> expired domains probably profit a lot off of people with expired domains.
> The proposal would give Verisign a cut of all these profits.
>
>
> * http://www.icann.org/bucharest/vgrs-wls-proposal-20mar02.pdf
>
> ** Read the whole thread in:
> http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&threadm=hN398.3
>4115%24X64.11564964%40news1.rdc2.pa.home.com&rnum=2&prev=/groups%3Fq%3Dwaiti
>ng%2Blist%2Bservice%2Bverisign%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26oe%3DUTF-8
>
> On Fri, Jul 12, 2002 at 07:51:10PM +0000, Carla Schroder wrote:
> > Hi gang,
> >
> > I'm reprinting this letter in full, it's a good summary of the nasty
> > things ICANN and Verisign are trying to pull, and links for taking
> > action. How did ICANN turn into such a monster, anyway?
> >
> > "July 12, 2002
> >
> > Dear Dotster Customers,
> >
> > I am writing you today to let you know of some potentially harmful
> > changes that are being proposed for the domain name registration
> > industry. These changes, if adopted, would restrict consumer choice,
> > cause domain pricing to drastically increase, and re-create the
> > monopolistic atmosphere that once existed in our industry when Network
> > Solutions (now VeriSign) was the only game in town. Dotster, and other
> > smaller registrars, need your support to help us maintain the healthy,
> > competitive environment that currently exists today.
> >
> > First, let me give you a little background on this issue. At the end of
> > 2001, VeriSign proposed to ICANN a Domain Name Wait Listing Service (WLS)
> > as a way to manage the registration of expiring domain names (for those
> > of you unfamiliar with ICANN, this is the organization that was
> > established several years ago to govern the domain industry when the
> > Network Solutions monopoly was broken up). This proposal includes a
> > partnership between VeriSign and SnapNames, a competitor to Dotster and
> > other registrars in the secondary domain market sector. This proposed
> > partnership would effectively eliminate all other competition in the
> > secondary market, thereby eliminating your choices and the competitive
> > alternatives that currently exist. At the recent ICANN meetings in
> > Bucharest, it was determined that a final position regarding the proposal
> > must be decided by the end of this month.
> >
> > Dotster strongly opposes this proposal as harmful to the consumer and the
> > entire domain registration industry. I recently wrote a letter to Marilyn
> > Cade, Chair of ICANN's WLS Task Force, to express Dotster's position on
> > the proposal. The entire letter is available for review by clicking the
> > link below, and I encourage you to review it and consider the
> > implications that adopting this proposal would place on the entire domain
> > name system. How will it affect you?
> >
> > Letter to Chair of WLS Task Force:
> > http://www.dotster.com/resources/wls.pdf
> >
> > We need your support! If you agree with Dotster's stance on this issue,
> > please let me know. Send me an e-mail at WLS at dotster.com to share your
> > comments and support. We are currently in a 10-day comment period, and we
> > need your comments before the end of July. In addition, I ask that you
> > post your opinion at the ICANN WLS forum at:
> >
> > http://forum.icann.org/wls/
> >
> > and participate in the petition against WLS at:
> >
> > http://www.petitiononline.com/antiwls/petition.html
> >
> > Thank you for your continued support of Dotster. VeriSign is an industry
> > giant, but banded together it is my hope that we can preserve an
> > environment that fosters innovation and healthy competition for the
> > benefit of you, the consumer.
> >
> > Sincerely,
> >
> > Clint Page
> > President, Dotster Inc.
> > WLS at dotster.com."
> >
> >
> > --
> > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> > Carla Schroder, Bratgrrl Computing
> > Plain English Spoken Here
> > www.bratgrrl.com
> > this message brought to you by Kmail,
> > on Red Hat Linux 7.2
> > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~