[registrars] RE: [RC Voting] Dues of $750 with "forgiveness" for those who choose to pay $250.

Mon Jul 30 08:33:16 UTC 2007

Hi Bob,

I think there are two conflicting issues here:

1)       "Some registrars who have multiple accreditations benefit
substantially from their memberships  -- but they pay only dues for one of
them.  They frequently make written endorsements of issues being discussed
by ICANN, signing in the name of their non member accreditations." 

====> Why does the RC allow use of its member list to solicit endorsements
by non-member entities?  If Letters are being organized on the RC list,
those letters should only contain the names of RC member companies. No
membership should equal:  no vote, no seat at the RC table at ICANN
Meetings, and no signing on submitted group letters. I say this as a paid
member for a single shell registrar who could be signing for 10+ other
non-member shell registrars (but I refrain from doing so).

2)       "Some registrars who have multiple accreditations benefit
substantially from their memberships  -- but they pay only dues for one of
them." 

===> I think "substantially" should be replaced with "microscopically".
Allow me to rephrase your statement to a flip side: "Some large registrars
who have large, very profitable customer bases benefit substantially from
their single memberships far above other smaller registrar with small,
almost non-profitable customer bases." When a letter is sent in, it is more
than reasonable for the recipient to take note of and recognize the top
registrars, and to ignore the others listed. Who really cares if DomainClip
or multiple "! #1"-Registrars are  listed? Small, unrecognized registrars
only add value to these submitted letters by adding bulk to the long list of
registrars. The difference between having all of the top 10 Registrars
listed on a letter, and having 300 shell registrars listed is minor. In
fact, having a long list of registrars on a letter where the top 10
Registrars are mixed in (read: lost) may have the unintended effect of
diluting the message. Any group signed letter should be listed in descending
order by the size of the domains under management. 

I understand that you, being a Republican, would likely be against the RC
membership being based on an "annual revenue" tiered pricing, or on the
number of domains managed. I am not here to suggest an exact tiered pricing
structure. Merely to point out that someone with 10, 50 or 100 shell
registrars does not receive 10x, 50x or 100x the benefit of membership by
trotting out their additional names onto a letter. 

This article from "Association Management" discusses some alternatives to
"annual revenue" membership dues:

http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/summary_0198-222446_ITM

"more organizations are exploring a tiered membership structure in which
membership and subsequently dues are based on membership levels or benefits
packages rather than on categories determined by specific demographic
criteria. "Embracing one of the fastest growing trends nationwide, more
associations are turning to a tiered membership structure to replace
outdated dues structures that do not communicate value to members," says
Moliterno, who has worked with several organizations in their transition
from a fair-share model to a tiered membership structure. She outlines these
primary reasons for the switch:

To give members control and choices. A tiered structure accommodates
companies regardless of size (or individuals regardless of professional
specialty) and ensures appropriate investment for the resulting delivery of
services and products. Participants customize their memberships by selecting
their levels of involvement and investment.

To realign business purposes to match customer needs. A tiered membership
structure allows associations to easily adapt to rapid change and
significant competitive challenges because they can adjust their benefits to
address new trends while adding value to their memberships at specific
levels. They can also demonstrate a return on investment for members, since
the tiers are segmented to match specific products and services to member
needs and desires.

To create one clear and concise message. Often, members say that they don't
know what they receive for their dues. When shown the tiered concept,
however, members appreciate the compartmentalized areas of information that
they can easily digest.

Thinking out loud here.. a tiered RC membership structure could
differentiate along levels (Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum) such as:

-          Ability to submit to RC mailing list

-          Right to add name to RC letters (listed by level)

-          Seat at RC table at ICANN Meetings

-          microphone/right to speak at RC table

-          use of RC logo on website according to level

-          ?

-          ?

-          .. These are just ideas to add to the discussion of a tiered
pricing structure.

I think raising the membership to $750 will cause the drop off of many small
registrars. While you may view this as them "soaking the rich", it's just an
economic decision. Is there $750 in value for a small registrar? Honestly,
probably not. Everyone has different reasons for being a member.  For me,
the $250 is worth it just to have a seat for the day at the (long) RC
meetings I (infrequently) attend. For $500 more, I'll just sit on the floor.
;^ )

Thx for listening,

Richard Lau

DomainClip.com

  _____  

From: owner-votingmembers at registrars.beach.net
[mailto:owner-votingmembers at registrars.beach.net] On Behalf Of Robert F.
Connelly
Sent: 30 July, 2007 1:19 AM
To: Registrars Constituency; RC Voting Members
Subject: [RC Voting] Dues of $750 with "forgiveness" for those who choose to
pay $250.

Dear Members:

In my prior posting, I mentioned Tim Ruiz and Adrian Kinderis.  It was only
because they each made constructive proposals on the dues issue and both
proposals "had some meat on them".  

Tim proposed a tiered dues structure.

Adrian said his registration business is small but that he felt membership
in the RC was important to his business and he did not think we should
charge more to anyone.

My comment was that I'm a long time Republican and don't like this idea of
"soaking the rich".

The dialog was productive.

I stand solidly behind Tim and Adrian in the present election for GNSO
representative!!!

My posting of this morning was a thought that came to me overnight.  Some
registrars who have multiple accreditations benefit substantially from their
memberships  -- but they pay only dues for one of them.  They frequently
make written endorsements of issues being discussed by ICANN, signing in the
name of their non member accreditations.  

Here is an example of such a posting:

Subject: [registrars] Final list of companies supporting the statement
At 02:05 PM 11/25/2005 Friday  -0500, Jennifer Ross-Carriere wrote:
Forgot us - NameScout Corp. et al  [1]

Jen 

Jennifer A. Ross-Carrire
General Counsel and Director of Policy
Momentous.ca Corporation [2]

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-registrars at gnso.icann.org
[ <mailto:owner-registrars at gnso.icann.org>
mailto:owner-registrars at gnso.icann.org] On Behalf Of Bhavin Turakhia
Sent: Friday, November 25, 2005 1:13 PM
To: registrars at gnso.icann.org

Please let me know if I am missing anyone. I intend to send the statement to
Vint shortly

! #1 Host Kuwait, Inc
! #1 Host Malaysia, Inc.
! #1 Host United Kingdom, Inc [5]  [I'm counting up the number of
signatures, BobC]
!!! $0 CostDomains
Aaaq
AAAQ Inc
Ace of Domains
Active 24 [10]
Ascio
AvidDomains
Blue Razor
Bulkregister
BulkRegister [15 duplicate?]
CoolHandle Hosting
CORE
CSIRegistry
Directi [20]
Domain Bank
Domain Contender
Domain Name Sales Inc
DomainClip
DomainHip [25]
Domainpeople
DomainPeople Inc
Domains Only
DomainSystems, Inc.
DotRegister [30]
Dotster
EasyDNS
Encirca
Enom
EPAG [35]
GMO
GoDaddy
Hosting.com
Intercosmos
Joker.com [40]
Key Systems
Key-Systems [dup?]
Melbourne IT
Misk.com
Moniker & Other Registrars [45]
Moniker Online Services
Name Intelligence, Inc
Name.com
Namebay  [50]
Namesecure
Network Soln
Nominalia
RallyDomains
Register.com [55]
Schlund+Partner
Spot Domain LLC
SRSPlus
Tucows [60]
Vivid domains
Wild West Domains [62]

Best Regards
Bhavin Turakhia
Founder, Chairman & CEO
Directi

end quote:

I added the square brackets.  We did not have 62 members in November last
year.  Many members who were in good standing at the time did not "sign" the
list.

Some members of Excom have spoken about "free riders" among registrars. 

Would anyone object if I pointed to some rides above who have never paid any
dues?

Regards, BobC

2007-2008 

Review Period: 30 Days 

Income & Assets 

Current Assets (Bank Account) 
$37,672.31 

Proposed Dues $750.00 

Number of Members 50 $37,500.00 

Proposed Reduced Fees-1 $250.00 

Number of Members w/reduced fees 10 $2,500.00 

$75,172.31 

Expenses 

Administrative Support-2 
$15,000.00 

Professional Support-3 
$30,000.00 

Technical Expenses-4 
$4,000.00 

Meeting Expenses-5 
$5,000.00 

$54,000.00 

Expected Ending Balance 
$21,172.31 

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