[council] Re: [domains-gen] Vint Cerf/ICANN confirm my interpretation of .biz/info/org proposed contracts -- tiered/differential domain pricing would not be forbidden

[Ross Rader]

(I have cc'ed this to both the Council and Registrar lists as George's 
message has popped up on both of these lists and I would like to hear 
more from my colleagues in those circles on this subject...)

George Kirikos wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> --- JB <info at bwp.net> wrote:
>> Or holding an auction for a popular name to find it's market price.
> 
> My reading of the contracts is that they wouldn't be allowed to hold a
> traditional English auction for the domain name, because they'd have to
> set a price on an equal basis for all registrars. It might be possible,
> though, as the contracts are so poorly written.

Poorly written indeed.

I would like to hear the basis for ICANN's opinion. My read of these 
contracts is very different (keep in mind that IANAL, NDIPOOTV) in that 
the combination of the registry services provisions, and the definition 
of the registry service itself prevents per domain price discrimination, 
in the absence of a different registry service specifically intended to 
allow for this type of pricing.

i.e. the new contracts state;

Main Agreement,  "3.1 (d)(iii) Registry Services are, for purposes
of this Agreement, defined as the following: (a) those
services that are both (i) operations of the registry critical to
the following tasks: the receipt of data from registrars
concerning registrations of domain names and name
servers; provision to registrars of status information relating
to the zone servers for the TLD; dissemination of TLD zone
files; operation of the registry zone servers; and
dissemination of contact and other information concerning
domain name server registrations in the TLD as required by
this Agreement; and (ii) provided by the Registry Operator
for the .biz registry as of the Effective Date as set forth on
Appendix 9; (b) other products or services that the Registry
Operator is required to provide because of the establishment
of a Consensus Policy (as defined in Section 3.1(b) above);
(c) any other products or services that only a registry
operator is capable of providing, by reason of its designation
as the registry operator; and (d) material changes to any
Registry Service within the scope of (a), (b) or (c) above.

Appendix 8, "4.1.1 Registrar agrees to pay Registry Operator the fees 
set forth in Exhibit E for initial and renewal registrations and other 
services provided by Registry Operator to Registrar (collectively, 
"Fees"). Registry Operator reserves the right to increase the Fees 
prospectively upon six (6) months prior notice to Registrar."

Exhibit E to Appendix 8, "Initial Registration Fe(Per Domain Name) US 
$5.30, Renewal Fee (Per Domain Name) US $5.30"

In other words, one of the existing Registry Services is providing 
initial registrations in the .biz namespace. The price for this service 
is currently $5.30. This price for this service may be revised with six 
months notice.

There are no provisions for any service that provides the registry with 
the capability to reserve specific names and make them available through 
other means. There are only provisions for registry services for initial 
and renewal registrations. The wording of these provisions makes it very 
clear that the pricing of these services is for all initial and renewal 
registrations, not for specific initial or renewal registrations based 
on the string of the domain.

I can't for one second believe that Vint's interpretation is in any way 
correct and I'd like to hear an absolute official determination based on 
the existing definition of registry services as outlined in these 
proposed agreements. If your interpretation is correct, the entire 
definition of registry services is flawed in that it would basically 
mean that Registry Services includes variations on Initial and Renewal 
registrations that aren't specifically covered in the existing agreement 
(i.e. the registry can provide whatever variations on these two services 
it wants without going through the Registry Services Approval Process).



Regards,

-- 

                        -rr








                 "Don't be too timid and squeamish about your actions.
                                            All life is an experiment.
                             The more experiments you make the better."
                         - Ralph Waldo Emerson


Contact Info:

Ross Rader
Director, Research & Innovation
Tucows Inc.
t. 416.538.5492
c. 416.828.8783

Get Started: http://start.tucows.com
My Blogware: http://www.byte.org