Re: [icann-eu] ICANN Board's TLD resolution

[Thomas Roessler <roessler@does-not-exist.org>]

Harald Alvestrand:

>> the remark I remember was something like "we started this whole
>> thing, and introduced the registry/registrar split, to get away
>> from monopolies and high prices - why should we go back to that
>> at this stage?"

Marc Schneiders:

> That does ring a bell with me. I do not see the point, however,
> to be valid as soon as there are more registries offeering
> basically the same thing: generic TLDs.

Basically, it's about models for competition: Vertical participants
vs. horizontal market participants.

In the latter case, you'd have all kinds of competing registrars and
registries, which act independently of each other.  Market leaders
in individual segments may be different. This is basically what the
PC industry looks like: You have manufacturers for individual
components which compete with each other, and the manufacturers for
other components or, so to say, levels, can select.  For instance,
you can put together motherboards from different manufacturers with
graphics equipment from different manufacturers, with hard drives
from still different manufacturers, etc.  You'd even have the choice
among competing operating systems.  In the domain name market, this
is currently pronounced as "should I get my dot-org from AOL or from
NSI's registrar"?

On the other hand, you have the vertical model.  Sun has been a
classical example, and is still close: You buy Sun hardware, run Sun
operating systems, and so on.  If you want to get a different kind
of workstation, you don't buy a Sun from a different manufacturer,
but go to an entirely different architecture, say, SGI or IBM.
Mapped to the DNS, this is the case where we have one registry with
one registrar, who are closely linked - just what NSI has been doing
(without any competition), and just what iodesign was proposing.
"Just go to dot-com if you don't like dot-web." This is certainly
competition, but in a different way.


Apparently, some on the ICANN board want to force the domain name
market into a horizontal model.  However, I don't see any reason why
vertical competitors should not be admitted to that market, so the
two models can compete against each other.

In a way, there is the risk that ICANN overregulates the domain name
market by not only introducing competition, but even mandating a
certain competition model.

-- 
Thomas Roessler                         <roessler@does-not-exist.org>