[UA-discuss] Domainers

Fri Dec 1 20:29:21 UTC 2017

Good insights, Pinky. Thanks!

*From:* Pinky Brand [mailto:pinky at pinkybrand.com]
*Sent:* Friday, December 1, 2017 1:25 PM
*To:* Jothan Frakes <jothan at jothan.com>; Michele Neylon <
michele at blacknight.com>
*Cc:* UA-discuss at icann.org
*Subject:* Re: [UA-discuss] Domainers

I agree with the responses by most in this thread to Andre's question.

I haven't been an active participant in this group to date, but am grateful
for all of the IDN and UASG related volunteers and all of the effort put
forth by them that may not ever see the light of day, let alone in some
sort of PR release or online domainer forum group.

Domainers are not customers of this group. Some are likely within this
group, within other stakeholders, and of course within the entire
ecosystem. IMHO they don't need to be *exclusively* thanked or acknowledged.

However I ask --- just what IS a domainer?

I struggle with the definition, even after being in the domain industry for
21 years, and serving as VP of TLD Registry Ltd., operators of the .在线
(online) and .中文网 (Chinese Website) IDNs approved early this year by MIIT.

One definition that has been floated by a prominent domain blogger is the
following:

*A domainer is an individual or company that actively engages in the
buying, selling, marketing, monetization and publishing of internet domain
names and other related web and or internet-based properties. *

If one concurs with the above, especially with the inclusion of the word
"company" in the definition, then in my experience that would cover a lot
of actors in the IDN industry and ecosystem.

Actors such as SMBs and major corporations --- being my own customers early
on; developers, consultants, registrars and their resellers, registry
operators and applicants, whether successful or not. I've also concluded
that quasi-government organizations and other ICANN types, including
volunteers in the IDN effort, may fit the definition of a domainer.

In my experience I have concluded that individual domainers do play a role
in the IDN ecosystem, but not a dominant role.

They are only one part of the entire IDN effort.

So should they be thanked or acknowledged?

If you think yes, then exactly "who" thanks "who"?  Assuming that can be
answered then I'd agree to it in the context of thanking all of the other
actors, especially the volunteers, at the same time.

Some give their money, and some give their time and expertise. Some give
all. Some are very public. Some lean towards being private or flying under
the radar. Everyone plays a part.

Anyone "investing" in IDNs, whether it be any of the above actors, in
whatever form their IDN investment/participation takes place, is important
to the eventual long term success, of which Universal Acceptance plays an
enormous role.

I submit my comments with the utmost respect for what this group is doing
to advance the cause and UA of IDNs.

*Mr. Pinkard Alan 'Pinky' Brand*

Managing Director

*FocusNua USA *dba Pinky Brand Consulting

*China + Domain Name Industry Knowledge*

Austin, Texas USA

www.pinkybrand.com

*Office: *+1.512.394.8812 (-6:00 GMT)

*Twitter:* @pinkybrand

*Skype: *photologik

*WeChat:* Pinky_Brand

--

On Fri, Nov 24, 2017 at 6:45 PM, Jothan Frakes <jothan at jothan.com> wrote:

Michele, congratulations to .ie in better serving the Irish community with
fada.ie, but I would suggest we not use the domain investment participation
there as any indication of universal measurements on participation.

I think that many participating in evolving the namespace (providers,
integrators, volunteers, investors, regulators, users, devolopers, etc.)
all deserve some gratitude - we are all in it together.

On Nov 24, 2017 10:07, "Michele Neylon - Blacknight" <michele at blacknight.com>
wrote:

The .ie ccTLD introduced IDN in .ie recently so that our local ccTLD could
finally support the Irish language. You can now register a .ie domain using
a fada (the accent) See http://fada.ie/ (disclosure: we run it)

Domainers had absolutely nothing to do with that decision. Zero. Nada.

While the takeup of IDNs in .ie hasn’t been exactly “huge” it has allowed
companies and other organisations whose names included fadas to register
their “real” name.

Regards

Michele

--

Mr Michele Neylon

Blacknight Solutions

Hosting, Colocation & Domains

https://www.blacknight.com/

https://blacknight.blog/

https://ceo.hosting/

Intl. +353 (0) 59  9183072 <+353%2059%20918%203072>

Direct Dial: +353 (0)59 9183090 <+353%2059%20918%203090>

-------------------------------

Blacknight Internet Solutions Ltd, Unit 12A,Barrowside Business Park,Sleaty

Road,Graiguecullen,Carlow,R93 X265,

Ireland  Company No.: 370845

*From: *UA-discuss <ua-discuss-bounces at icann.org> on behalf of Andre
Schappo <A.Schappo at lboro.ac.uk>
*Date: *Thursday 23 November 2017 at 10:07
*To: *Universal Acceptance <UA-discuss at icann.org>
*Subject: *[UA-discuss] Domainers

Would IDNs even exist today if it was not for Domainers? I suspect that
IDNs would have been abandoned long ago if it was not for Domainers.

I believe that Domainers are the majority holders of IDNs. The dependency
on Domainers is well emphasised in the thread
http://www.idnforums.com/forums/35654-number-of-%E3%82%B3%E3%83%A0-registrations-takes-a-nosedive.html
<http://www.idnforums.com/forums/35654-number-of-コム-registrations-takes-a-nosedive.html>

I think the international community should be acknowledging and thanking
Domainers for their significant contribution to IDNs.

André Schappo
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