[Gnso-newgtld-wg] Proposed agenda - New gTLD Subsequent Procedures PDP WG - 8 October 2018 at 15:00 UTC

[Liz Williams]

Hello everyone

I was listening carefully to the conversation yesterday about the use of auctions (private or ICANN last resort) yesterday and thought it may be useful to consider a few other elements.

1.  If there are no auctions, how does one objectively resolve contention sets? As we know, auctions are used widely to resolve "contention sets” for everything from Banksy artworks, racehorses and houses.  They are an effective and quick mechanism that demonstrates immediate clarity about who is a winner.   If we don’t have an auction option, we are left with a rather big mess to sort out because there will be contention again.

2.  Are we being cautious because we weren’t/aren’t satisfied with the use of auction proceeds and that rather large amount of cash sitting on ICANN’s balance sheet?  Likely yes but that doesn’t mean that auctions are a bad thing.  It means we have to improve  the distribution for last resort auction proceeds.

3.  Are we worried about “big bucks squashing out smaller players”?  Again, likely yes but we don’t have a reasonable alternative that solves the issue of contention.  Some suggested that applicants “gamed” a contention set.  That was impossible until the reveal of potentially competing strings.  Should there be a reveal at all in the early stages?  Likely yes because we want to give applicants the option of opting out early in the process if they see who their competitors are and the likelihood of winning a bi/multi lateral negotiation or an auction.

4.  Some have suggested that some applicants “profited” from auctions.  Yes, that is the nature of auctions.  But what wasn’t anticipated that “losing” at auction became a windfall of operating cash for some applicants and were, in some cases, the only way an applicant recouped any of the investment in their application.   Not sure how we deal with this or if we should even be concerned about it as long as applicants know what they are in for at the beginning of the process.

Looking forward to hearing other’s views.

Liz

….
Dr Liz Williams | Internet Governance
M: +44 7824 877757 :: +61 436 020 595
W: www.lizwilliams.net
S:  lizwilliams1963
 
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> On 9 Oct 2018, at 4:56 am, Jon Nevett <jon at donuts.email> wrote:
> 
> <jnNew gTLD Subsequent Procedures Additional Topics_5Oct2018.docx>

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