Re: [At-Large] ALAC Draft Statement on Domain Tasting and Domain Monetization - V. 1.3
What you received before is most definitely not an issues report I'm
afraid. An Issues Report is a specific thing which is regulated by the
Bylaws in the way I outlined lower in the thread below.
To recap, in order to have an Issues Report, you must ask the GNSO
Council for one in the way below-referenced. Since the report you
received originally written by Bruce Beckwith is not the result of
such a motion to the GNSO, it doesn't qualify.
On 28/03/07, Wendy Seltzer <wendy@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Izumi AIZU wrote:
> > 2007/3/29, Wendy Seltzer <wendy@xxxxxxxxxxx>:
> >>
> >> I like the substance of the comment, but the procedure is wrong. We
> >> voted at our March 6 teleconference to commence the PDP, so this is the
> >> statement to be sent to the GNSO requesting it.
> >
> >
> > Woops, because we voted yesterday to write a request to
> > ICANN Staff for Issue report. No one reminded the Vote on March 6.
> > Which one should we follow?
>
> The March 6 vote puts us further into the process. We should call what
> we already received from staff an Issues Report and forward this
> statement to the GNSO Council at this meeting to start the PDP.
>
> --Wendy
>
> >
> > izumi
> >
> >
> >
> > --Wendy
> >>
> >> Nick Ashton-Hart wrote:
> >> > Just one comment down below of a technical nature:
> >> >
> >> > On 28/03/07, Izumi AIZU <iza@xxxxxxx> wrote:
> >> >> Hi,
> >> >>
> >> >> Here follows and attached is the third version. I messed up with the
> >> >> wiki, changing the link page title made it impossible to keep the
> >> >> history - thus this is a kind of new page now.
> >> >> I will try to find ways to fix it... in the mean time. I changed the
> >> >> title from "Comments" to "Statement". We still need more inputs and
> >> >> reactions from you guys!
> >> >>
> >> >> Thanks,
> >> >> izumi
> >> >>
> >> >> Here is the wiki URL:
> >> >> https://st.icann.org/alac/index.cgi?al_2007_r_1
> >> >>
> >> >> ALAC STATEMENT ON DOMAIN TASTING AND MONETISATION AND THEIR IMPACTS ON
> >> >> THE INDIVIDUAL INTERNET USERS
> >> >>
> >> >> Version 1.3, Mar 28
> >> >>
> >> >> On behalf of the ordinary Internet users, the At-Large Advisory
> >> >> Committee (ALAC), with inputs from the worldwide At-Large Structures
> >> >> and other friends, would like to make the following statements on
> >> >> Domain Tasting and Domain Monetization.
> >> >>
> >> >> We think Domain Tasting and Domain Monetization are two different
> >> >> issues, though certain areas may have some relationship, and therefore
> >> >> we like to discuss them separately.
> >> >>
> >> >> The need to articulate the issue first for Domain Tasting
> >> >> We assume that Domain Tasting utilizing the existing Five-day Add
> >> >> Grace Period is an abuse that results in confusion of the ordinary
> >> >> Internet users and gives an unfair advantage to speculators.
> >> >>
> >> >> At this point of time, we feel there still needs more concrete
> >> >> information to prove these problems actually exist and are affecting
> >> >> the ordinary users and their experience in using the Internet.
> >> >>
> >> >
> >> > This paragraph is still slightly out of kilter with what the process
> >> > in the Bylaws actually requires.
> >> >
> >> > What you are actually to do is raise an issue by transmitting a
> >> > request to the GNSO Council to commence a PDP.
> >> >
> >> > Then 15 days after receiving a "properly supported motion from an
> >> > Advisory Committee" the staff will create an issues report.
> >> >
> >> > "properly supported" according to Dan Halloran means supported by the
> >> > committee in the normal way it resolves on questions of substance -
> >> > e.g majority vote.
> >> >
> >> > You can find the details here:
> >> http://www.icann.org/general/bylaws.htm#AnnexA
> >> >
> >> >> ALAC will draft a formal request shortly to ask ICANN staff to prepare
> >> >> the Issue Report. At the same time, we like to work together with
> >> >> other constituencies or groups who share the similar concern to come
> >> >> to a consensus position.
> >> >>
> >> >> Upon receiving the Issue Report by the staff, GNSO must make the
> >> >> decision whether a formal PDP is necessary or not.
> >> >>
> >> >> In addition, here are some possible actions you can do voluntarily
> >> now:
> >> >>
> >> >> With the User Consituency, business and non-commercial:
> >> >> Find the best ways to protect the interest of the end users, as
> >> >> registrants as well as just as general users who do not register
> >> >> domain names but just use domain names to communicate each other or
> >> >> find useful information on Internet. How to provide safeguard for the
> >> >> domain names they registered, what are the rights of the registrants,
> >> >> for example.
> >> >>
> >> >> With the Registrars Constituency:
> >> >> Finalize and implement Registrars Code of Conduct that prohibits
> >> >> unfair speculation and exploitation on Domain name registration
> >> >> including the use of five day Add Grace period. In case full consensus
> >> >> is difficult to achieve, some voluntary Code of Conduct or Best
> >> >> Practice or some kind of Self-certification may be a good alternative
> >> >> to assure user confidence.
> >> >>
> >> >> With Registry Constituency: gTLD and ccTLDs
> >> >> Consider how to avoid user confusion and unfair practices by
> >> >> abolishing the five day add grace period. Adding small fee, such as 25
> >> >> cents per Domain to those registrants who kept their names using add
> >> >> grace period may be another solution.
> >> >>
> >> >> With ICANN Board:
> >> >> We suggest ICANN Board to consider how to prohibit unfair speculation,
> >> >> enhance consumer trust to Domain Name registration system, for
> >> >> example, initiating a third party study on the impact of Domain
> >> >> Tasting and Domain Monetization/speculation to the ordinary Internet
> >> >> users. ALAC is more than happy to assist such study,
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >> On Domain Monetization
> >> >> We note that there is a meaningful difference between Domain Tasting
> >> >> and Domain Monetization. Monetization is a straightforward arbitrage
> >> >> between the cost of domain registrations and the revenue from as much
> >> >> pay-per-click traffic as the domain owner can get from people who
> >> >> visit web sites in the domain. It's a fundamentally sleazy business,
> >> >> since the web sites have no useful content and the way they get the
> >> >> traffic is basically by tricking people, either via typos or recently
> >> >> expired domains. More importantly, the presence of such website makes
> >> >> web-surfing by ordinary users far more difficult and confusing than
> >> >> they should be.
> >> >>
> >> >> We do not think it is appropriate in this case to make ICANN as a
> >> >> regulator to watch and prohibit the Domain Monetization practices per
> >> >> se. Instead, on behalf of ordinary Internet users, we call upon those
> >> >> commercial enterprises such as Google or Overture to take appropriate
> >> >> measures such as to stop paying for clicks on pages with no content,
> >> >> thereby dealing with a problem that is not limited to typo and expired
> >> >> domains. We've seen click arbitrage, people buying Google ads to drive
> >> >> traffic to pages that are simply other Google ads. This kind of
> >> >> self-generating traffic for pay-per-click advertising is confusing and
> >> >> unnecessary for ordinary Internet users and, in the long run, not
> >> >> healthy for the development of Internet as a whole.
> >> >>
> >> >> Since Domain monetization is a relatively new phenomena, the impact to
> >> >> the ordinary users and the wider Internet community is hard to measure
> >> >> at this point. It seems clear, however, that it does not improve the
> >> >> user experience at all. We think it is worth to keep watching on how
> >> >> it develops and may seek for specific actions when we have clearer
> >> >> understanding of measurable impact.
> >> >>
> >> >> Background and Rationale on Domain Tasting
> >> >> "Domain tasting" is the term used to describe the use of the five-day
> >> >> add grace period to register domains without paying for them and find
> >> >> those domains which generate certain traffic for pay-per-click
> >> >> advertisements. We think these are unfair acts: somewhere between
> >> >> larceny and extortion, because the registration cost is zero and the
> >> >> purpose of these registrations is just to make money by taking
> >> >> advantage of automated bulk registration to exploit the domain names,
> >> >> which are in essence 'public goods', and not the real property of
> >> >> anyone.
> >> >>
> >> >> As many people have noted, this practice is exploiting a loophole that
> >> >> shouldn't exist in the first place. There was a great deal of debate
> >> >> both in the ICANN community about the deletion grace period, but none
> >> >> at all about add grace which was apparently tossed into the package by
> >> >> an ICANN staffer without asking anyone. So says Karl Auerbach, who was
> >> >> on the board at the time, and we haven't seen anything to the contrary
> >> >> from any other board member.
> >> >>
> >> >> As Bob Parsons, CEO and Founder of Go Daddy, wrote in his blog:
> >> >> Millions of good .COM domain names – on any given day over 3.5 million
> >> >> and climbing — are unfairly made unavailable to small businesses and
> >> >> others who would actually register and use them in ways for which the
> >> >> names were intended. Many times businesses accidentally let their
> >> >> domain names expire. When they go to renew them, they find they have
> >> >> been snapped up – and taken away with a huge expensive hassle to
> >> >> follow – by an add/drop registrar.
> >> >>
> >> >> The usual explanation of domain tasting says that the registrars
> >> >> register millions of domains, watch the traffic, and then after 4.9
> >> >> days they delete the ones that don't seem likely to make back the
> >> >> US$6.00 registration fee. Often they just delete them all and then
> >> >> reregister what they can a few minutes later until they find the
> >> >> domains that produce enough traffic to yield a return well above the
> >> >> registration fee.
> >> >>
> >> >> The add grace period is just a mistake. The problem it purports to
> >> >> solve is not and never was an important one. If you let an important
> >> >> domain expire, you risk losing the entire investment made in that
> >> >> domain over many years. But if one registers a domain by mistake, the
> >> >> most one risks is the ten or twenty dollars you paid to register it.
> >> >>
> >> >> _______________________________________________
> >> >> ALAC mailing list
> >> >> ALAC@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> >> >>
> >> http://atlarge-lists.icann.org/mailman/listinfo/alac_atlarge-lists.icann.org
> >>
> >> >>
> >> >> www.alac.icann.org
> >> >> www.icannalac.org
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >
> >> >
> >>
> >>
> >> --
> >> Wendy Seltzer -- wendy@xxxxxxxxxxx
> >> phone: 718.780.7961 // fax: 718.780.0394 // cell: 914.374.0613
> >> Visiting Assistant Professor of Law, Brooklyn Law School
> >> Fellow, Berkman Center for Internet & Society
> >> http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/seltzer.html
> >> http://www.chillingeffects.org/
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
>
>
> --
> Wendy Seltzer -- wendy@xxxxxxxxxxx
> phone: 718.780.7961 // fax: 718.780.0394 // cell: 914.374.0613
> Visiting Assistant Professor of Law, Brooklyn Law School
> Fellow, Berkman Center for Internet & Society
> http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/seltzer.html
> http://www.chillingeffects.org/
>
--
--
Regards,
Nick Ashton-Hart
PO Box 32160
London N4 2XY
United Kingdom
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