Question: Do you have any opinion about where ICANN's operating capital should come from? (I suppose an IPO is out of the question . . .) Specifically, what do you think about the previously proposed $1 fee on new domain registrations? Are there better ideas out there?

Nominee Replies

Donald Langenberg - posted on 2000-10-01 20:18:24 No, I don't. Obviously, ICANN has operating costs and must therefore have operating revenues. As a not-for-profit organization that is chartered to serve the universe of Internet stakeholders, from individual users to corporations to governments, it seems reasonable to suppose that its revenues should come from all those stakeholders. By what mechanisms, I don't yet have a view. Harris Miller - posted on 2000-09-29 12:13:41 ICANN clearly needs to have access to operating capital commensurate with its limited mission. I support the $50,000 fee and in fact have argued that this may not be high enough. But beyond this, ICANN does need to develop a revenue base. I do not favor collecting a tax on new domain registrations at this time, nor do I think it will help corporate governance to have ICANN have a potential interest in promoting activities to maximize collections. As I Board member, I would look forward to examining this question with the input of all sectors of the user community. Emerson Tiller, J.D., Ph.D. - posted on 2000-09-29 08:41:11 Yes, I think there are better ideas out there. I have suggested using an auction method for new TLD allocations, rather than $50,000 nonrefundable application fee. This will stop the giveaway that ICANN is engaged in for what will be very popular TLDs (such as .store or .firm) which are worth millions of dollars. An auction method can also allow less popular TLDs to be allocated for less than the $50,000 fee. ICANN can establish a floor bid amount to cover its expenses for evaluating the high bid. Amounts bid over the floor will be money ICANN can use for its normal operations. Collection of a $ 1fee from new domain registrations should be a last resort. There are better ways that take advantage of the market for TLDs. Lyman Chapin - posted on 2000-09-28 18:37:41 There's an interesting tension at present between ICANN's undeniable need for funding to support its operations and the importance of confining ICANN's operations to the very limited scope of its mandate. It's not easy to determine how large ICANN's budget should be from year to year. The Markle Foundation grant explicitly recognizes that ICANN is at least in part a project...to promote the public interest in nontraditional, international venues where policy is made that affects the Internet, its use, and its impact on society. I don't believe that ICANN has developed sufficient legitimacy in even its limited current role to justify funding it with a tax on domain name registrations, but I haven't heard any better ideas. Lawrence Lessig - posted on 2000-09-26 23:22:32 ICANN needs to prove itself before it becomes a domain name taxing authority. But I do believe a structure for raising revenue is critical. I would favor systems for collecting revenue that did not, inadvertently, skew the system in favor of commerical sites.