Re: [ICANN-EU] Re: Don't waste your endorsement

[Marc Schneiders <marc@venster.nl>]

On 12 Sep 2000, Lutz Donnerhacke wrote:

> * Marc Schneiders wrote:
> >On 11 Sep 2000, Lutz Donnerhacke wrote:
> >> * Marc Schneiders wrote:
> >>> Did you not know where the Corporation you were running for, gets its
> >>> money from?
> >> 
> >> No, did you expect me reading all documents available? You are wrong.
> >
> > I might have been wrong if I would have been expecting that. I did not. I
> > was amazed that you did not know about the ICANN tax on domains.
> 
> We might use different words for the same action. ICANN can not tax domains.
> They can create contracts with registrars containing such a payment method.
> But this is a fee, not a tax.

You buy those legal niceties yourself? In fact it is a tax even if it is
enforced through a contract with the *monopoly* registry.

> This contract based fee is the reason to do not apply on ccSLDs, due to
> missing contracts.

According to ICANN they apply. ICANN does see it as a tax, even though it
calls it something else.

> > Especially since you were so vocal against new gTLDs, which would through
> > the tax improve ICANNs financial position significantly. So I do think,
> > that you should have known about it, yes. Is that wrong?
> 
> Your reasoning is valid. I do not get the idea why the financial situation
> of ICANN should be more important than the DNS system. So I did not even
> came up with the importance of financial problems while dealing with my
> opinion of the future system. I still believe that those are neglectable.

Of course more tax is not a good reason for more gTLDs at all. I agree
with you here. But it does come in handy for ICANN. And the companies
applying for the new gTLDs right now will be more than happy to pay the
$0.33 tax. Running a registry is a very lucrative business. NetSol's
recent takeover prooves that.

> >> I read the most important ones, those defining the cooperation. it's
> >> history in short, and some critical dispute documents.
> >
> > Yes, maybe ICANN does not communicate about the tax it levies very
> > much...
> 
> Ack.
> 
> > It has been in the press recently though, when a substantive number of
> > ccTLD registries refused to pay it...
> 
> Of course, there is no contract.

No, the ccTLDs, some of them, are clever. They are in a position to get a
contract and a tax on their terms. Their TLDs predate ICANN :-)
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% Marc Schneiders ------- Venster - http://www.venster.nl % 
%* marc@venster.nl - marc@bijt.net - marc@schneiders.org *%
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