Question: Do you believe that registrars should be allowed to be domain holders, resellers and auctioneers?

Nominee Replies

Lyman Chapin - posted on 2000-10-04 09:26:34 Clearly a registrar can be a domain holder (in the sense that it will probably want to hold .com and others in the normal course of doing business), but I would support the adoption of an ICANN policy that proscribed warehousing of or speculation in SLDs by registrars, as anticipated by section J.9 of the Registrar Accreditation Agreement (http://www.icann.org/nsi/icann-raa-04nov99.htm). Harris Miller - posted on 2000-10-02 10:33:11 First, I believe that domain names are more than mere commodities. Up until now, users viewed a domain name as an address. Second, I think ICANN's priorities should be to expand gTLDs on a measured and thoughtful basis. Registrars acting as re-sellers and auctioneers raise numerous issues that need to be thought out. Very complex issues are involved, including IP and how market forces can best operate. What are the risks of increased litigation and liabilities? Would national governments be incented to craft new laws that reach out into cyberspace? I would support the Board taking a serious look at these and other questions after the additional gTLDs are rolled out. Emerson Tiller, J.D., Ph.D. - posted on 2000-10-01 21:00:00 I generally would not favor registrars as domain holders other than for their own business operations. In terms of being resellers and auctioneers, as long as competition appears to keep registrars from engaging in monopolistic practices, I do not see a problem. But I think this issue deserves more attention and if facts show otherwise, I am not hardened in my position. We need more information. Lawrence Lessig - posted on 2000-10-01 20:06:28 If there were a sufficient number of TLDs and registrars, in a competitive market, yes.