[registrars] Regarding establishing a coop entity to run an auction system

[Bruce Tonkin]

Hello Eric,

> 
> That's one avenue. Another is to form a coop entity and make 
> accredition the test for coop membership, and tell ICANN that 
> is where we want the "deleted front-end" in expiring 
> com/net/org names to reside -- not as a registry service, but 
> as a registrar cooperative service.
> 
An interesting idea.  I would like to understand it a bit further.

I assume that a corporate entity is formed as a cooperative.
Membership is available to any accredited registrar.

Would the cooperative then elect a Board?

Does this cooperative then employ staff, set up systems etc, 
or does it outsource in some way?   Outsource is probably the faster
model, as there are already connection aggregators that have the
necessary hardware and software.  However the coop would probably need
to run a tender process to select the be best provider.


It would then need a business model to operate, with some revenue stream
that is sufficient to manage its costs.

I am not entirely sure that this is a faster process than having ICANN
manage a tender.

It think the fastest process is probably still for the registry to
operate the service (or at least have the first right of refusal), but
make sure that ICANN sets the parameters (financial and technical) for
this service in consultation with the community.
I would see it being defined as a new registry service.

For future gtlds - the service can simply be made part of the technical
specs for a new registry contract, but for existing TLDs it would
require cooperation between ICANN (representing the community) and the
current registry operator.

Regards,
Bruce