Question: By making minimizing DN costs a goal you are inherently stating that there is waste in the system that is passed on and reflected as higher than the minimum sustainable cost for DN ownership. Where do you see the waste specifically and how do you propose to address this waste?

Nominee Replies

Masanobu Katoh - posted on 2000-10-04 14:08:53 Thanks to ICANN's efforts, I do not see any specific area of the domain name system where an an unreasonable cost can be found. We can also reduce the cost further of the domain name system in the future by, for example, 1) bringing competition to all levels of operation of the domain name system, and 2) using new technology to improve productivity of such operation. Sureswaran Ramadass - posted on 2000-09-29 06:35:57 I would suggest rather than minimising, the cost should be optimised to reflect the cost of operations at an efficient level, yet not burdening the end users. Lulin Gao - posted on 2000-09-28 02:41:28 If I may, I would like to participate in the discussion. All users would appreciate services and goods with better quality and in the meantime at low costs. To minimize any waste of costs, briefly, my view is that the only effective way to reduce costs for registration of domain name is to foster and promote free competition among registrars, which is consistent with ICANN~{!/~}s policy. Johannes Chiang - posted on 2000-09-27 07:57:48 Following is my statement to this issue on my web site: To minimize the Domain Name costs; Domain Name is a kind of private property belonging to Internet citizens, who have only to pay for the necessary overhead such as the maintenance costs, but need not to pay for owning it or for poortax. In this text, it is clear that (1) I consider the price issue from the aspect of cost/effect and rationality. It is not meant to state inherently that there must be waste in the system. 2. I am against the poortax for domain names and the unreasonable profits that have nothing to do with using the DNs, such as so-called basic ownership fees. 3. I assert that the domain name holders have to pay for the necessary overhead for maintaining the DNs. I do not accept the thinking that everything regarding Internet should be free. If elected as an ICANN director, it's not suitable for me to carry out proposals by myself. I will address this issue in the relevant activities such as education to the internet users, communication with government agencies and dissemination of Domain Name information.