what problem are we solving? (was Re: ICANN opens up Pandora's Box of new TLDs)

Fri Jun 27 22:30:58 UTC 2008

On Fri, 27 Jun 2008, David Conrad wrote:

> On Jun 27, 2008, at 10:57 AM, Bill Nash wrote:
>> I'd rather see ICANN spend time on current problems instead of making new 
>> ones.
>
> Out of curiosity, what are the problems you feel ICANN should be spending its 
> time on?
>

For starters, has Verisign ever been sanctioned by ICANN for it's 
business practices, with stupid stuff occurring as late as what, this past 
February (the front running debacle)? If ICANN is supposed to be 
encouraging competition, et cetera, why is Verisign still in business?

Also, show me a single registrar that actually gaurantees their service. 
Almost every registrar has boilerplate user agreements that shafts the 
domain owner in the event of any failure, even if the registrar screws it 
up. I'm not talking about some standard protection against user errors or 
identidy theft, I'm talking about a genuine 'If our service breaks, you 
get to keep both halves.'

Would you use a registrar with these terms of service? I bet you do.
Would you use them if you had a choice? I bet you wouldn't.

"Because certain states do not permit the limitation of elimination of 
liability for certain types of damage, $registrar's liability shall be 
limited to the smallest amount permitted by law. $registrar disclaims any 
loss or liability resulting from:

    1. access delays or interruptions to our web site or domain name 
registration system;
    3. events beyond our control (i.e. acts of God);
    4. the loss of registration or processing of a domain name or the use 
of a domain name;
    5. the failure for whatever reason to renew a domain name registration;
    7. errors, omissions or misstatements;
    8. deletion of, failure to store, or failure to process or act upon 
email messages;
    9. processing of updated information to Your registration record;
   11. errors taking place with regard to the processing of Your 
application;"

I pulled a couple of lines out because they were things that I felt a 
registrar might actually be indemnified, in the event of, but seriously.
How does an entire class of business truly serve the consumer with these 
kinds of policies?

regÂ·isÂ·trar
1.	a person who keeps a record; an official recorder.
2.	an agent of a bank, trust company, or other corporation who is 
responsible for certifying and registering issues of securities.

Except for domain registrars, who are only really a registrar when they 
make a mistake that could cost your entire commercial enterprise.

I'll be the first to admit there's been progress made on the front of 
preventing domain theft and other shenanigans, but when it comes down to 
it, running a domain registry doesn't seem to be in the best interests of 
the primary consumers of such a product.

- billn