[atlarge-discuss] RE: 'Really would like to hear comments on the deletes issue...'

["Bruce Young" <bruce@barelyadequate.info>]

Ray Fassett wrote:

|  well said.  let's see how much more money in time and resources can be
|  spent reconciling this equation rather than allowing the "low
|  cost item" to be driven by market forces rather artificial ones.

I'm not clear about your position.  The above seems to indicate that you are
*for* reductions in domain registration costs while . . .

|  How about having the organization just pay
|  the "potentially enormous value" - or something more consistent
|  to it - at registration and renewal?

. . . would seem to say other wise.  Are you for or against letting the
market set the price?

I'm obviously not a registrar, but I do know a little about support costs
for IT equipment, and I suspect that the $7.00 to $9.00 a year that the
"licensed speculators" you refer to are charging is probably more in line
with fair profit above actual costs than the $20 to $30 that used to be the
norm.  If not, they'll shortly be out of business, and those with just a
slightly higher price points, or greater efficiencies in their processes,
will fill he void.  That's part of letting the market set the price, too!

I do not endorse the idea that a domain name is necesarily valuable in it's
own right, any more so than any other company name.  The company itself
gives the name value through its reputation, not the reverse.  For instance,
what is the value of ENRON.COM today, as opposed to two years ago?  However,
I also do not endorse the concept, espoused by some IP lawyers and a judge
or two, that a domain name is nothing more than an "Internet phone number".
Its true value lies somewhere between these two extremes.

But that logic of "potential value" is immaterial when talking about domain
name *registration*.  The cost of same should be based on actual costs plus
a fair mark-up.  Although I've heard otherwise from some, I for one think it
appropriate that those who make their living from operating the Internet, be
they registrars or otherwise, have a right to earn a fair profit from their
labors.  However, in many cases in the past, and in some cases still today,
there are people in the industry who have made inordinate profits by
manipulating the system, and caused damage to others in the process.  Such
behavior is self-defeating, because it discredits the entire industry, and
threatens to bring down the heavy hand of the regulator on an industry
better served by a less-regimented environment that fosters innovation. And
that hand is coming if the industry continues down its chosen path.

There is no doubt that the Internet industry has been caught with its had in
the cookie jar, and no amount of nay-saying and spin control is going to
allow them to remove it gracefully.  Even the mainstream press has noticed
(finally!), and has begun to question the DoC's current "hands off"
approach, particularly after ICANN approved "reforms" that insulate it even
further from regulating outside voices.  Since ICANN isn't willing to spur
reform, it is now up to the Internet industry to do so.  Their one chance is
to begin self regulation in ernest.  That means engaging conversations with
the At Large and NGOs, listening to what they have say, changing their
business practices accordingly, and urging ICANN to open its processes.  It
means *publically* rebuking ICANN and your and fellow industry members when
you catch them doing something underhanded.  And it means treating your
customers as the valuable resource they are, instead of sheep to be fleeced.
Because the "sheep" are getting really pissed off, and have begun talking to
each other about it!  And if enough of them get together in anger, the
resulting stampede will be ugly!

Bruce Young
Portland, Oregon USA
bruce@barelyadequate.info
http://www.barelyadequate.info
--------------------------------------------
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