Re: PAB The Green Paper and competing registries

From: John Charles Broomfield (jbroom@outremer.com)
Date: Mon Feb 23 1998 - 15:53:16 PST


Jim Dixon wrote:
> John Broomfield wrote:
> > > Ivan Pope wrote:
(...)
> > > > no-one would take a .fr over a .uk on price/service/performance
> > > > etc.
> > I would add that vice-versa wouldn't happen either (ie a .uk
> > over a .fr).
> OK, I will pretend that this has never happened.

(...)
> > Be careful with the true but misleading statements.
> Yes, don't be deceived by facts. They are very pesky and irritating.

Ok, since you seem to be so convinced that this happens, and apparently
your making a big point of it would make it seem VERY important, could
you back up your statements with real life arguments? Or are you just
going to go into the method of dropping phrases that seem to point
towards completely different conclusions?
Please, examples. FACTS.
Because if there are only 2-10 examples, I find it really a flimsy
argument to say that competition exists because of what has happened
on 2-10 registrations out of a few hundred thousand.

> > Ah, but be careful there. Under current IANA rules, the local
> > government for any given nTLD is ultimately responsible, so in
> > the cases where the registry is being run by private companies/
> > individuals, they have to be careful no to do it too badly, or
> > else face having the registry taken away by the government.
>
> You are joking. One of the serious problems is that many
> governments use the DNS as just another instrument of oppresion
> or just another way to gouge people for money.

A few messages back you said (though not with these words) that based
on volume one should be careful to use the fringe TLDs when drawing
arguments, so following in that line, I was referring to what is
happening in the meaningful TLDs (by that I mean those with large
amounts of registrations). And I think that any government located
in one of the areas defined by any of those "large" TLDs would probably
take great offence in being characterized as you do.
My apology for not making it clear that I was trying to use what you
consider to be meaningful.

(...)
> In many countries the nTLD registries have been captured by the PTTs.
> The PTTs are sometimes an arm of the government, sometimes coddled
> monopolies. Generally speaking they are run in a dictatorial,
> authoritarian fashion, are expensive, and quite inefficient.

> In this they frequently resemble the national government, so complaints
> tend not to find a sympathetic response ;-)

Although again you have reverted to the "smaller" ones, your argument
seems to go completely against the existance of ANY form of competition
changing ANYTHING in those TLDs. In fact your argument about the
registries
resembling the governments actually makes me think that this analogy is
a
good one to be drawn.
I FEEL (personal thoughts here) that the existance of many registries
creates as much a competitive environment as the existance of many
governments. You seem to argue that because the government of France is
good, Albania is compelled to have a good government too. Moot I'd say.

> > > Well, Willie Black is the Managing Director of Nominet, so he
> > > should know too ...
> > And does he say anything contradicting what Ivan has just stated?
> Yes.

What?

(sheesh it's difficult to get straight answers from you).

Yours, John.



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