Re: Tired of Waiting

Robert Shaw <robert.shaw@itu.int> Tue, 14 July 1998 22:50 UTC

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Date: Tue, 14 Jul 1998 23:45:10 +0200
From: Robert Shaw <robert.shaw@itu.int>
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To: Christopher Ambler <cambler@iodesign.com>
CC: perry <perry@piermont.com>, Noel Chiappa <jnc@ginger.lcs.mit.edu>, ietf <ietf@ietf.org>, List <List@giaw.org>, comments <comments@iana.org>, discussion-draft <discussion-draft@giaw.org>, domain-policy <domain-policy@open-rsc.org>
Subject: Re: Tired of Waiting
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Christopher Ambler wrote:
> 
> Your assessment is as inaccurate as your basis for the claim. What
> is the difference between a registry making an honest profit and a
> registrar making an honest profit? If both provide good service,
> contractually prohibit gouging and harm to the Internet, where is the
> harm?

Because this is the Internet public infrastructure and not your personal
playground to make a fast buck. History has taught us a big lesson.
.com represents 85% of all gTLD registrations. There is a reason: gTLDs
are non-portable, quasi-non-interchangeable goods (imagine 'ownership'
of .inc in a world of 100 million SLD delegations). Therefore, competition 
between registries (aka gTLDs) is fantasy. So get over it. Become a registrar. 
Go forth and suffer *real* competition, not pseudo-competition because you 
have a lock on a gTLD. 

Robert
-- 
Robert Shaw <robert.shaw@itu.int>
Head, a.i., IED/Advisor, Global Information Infrastructure
International Telecommunication Union <http://www.itu.int>
Place des Nations, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland