Bruce, would you be kind enough to table this resolution for the 13
January
Council meeting on behalf of the BC?
Issue - Re-selling of valuable deleted domain names in a secondary
market
The typical model for selling deleted TLDs is first-come first-served
and
this works well for ordinary names where the profit to registries and
registrars is small and similar. But it does not work for special names
where the domain name equity is much higher, either because the name has
perceived value, or there is a desirable level of associated traffic
with
the name. A secondary market has grown up to remarket the names. Some
names
are bought for speculative resell; others because they have traffic
still
active and are resold to redirect the traffic to other, sometimes
undesirable, sites. This market has created a new business
opportunity for
registrars and a problem for the registries. Certain registrars are
"slaming" the registries with automated requests for desirable names.
Because the present system provides equal access to all registrars, some
registrars have created new ICANN accredited daughter registrars
whose sole
purpose is to request deleted names - thus increasing the chance for the
parent registrar to get desirable names. This massive set of
requests is
affecting the ability of the registrars to manage their existing bona
fide
business efficiently. This impacts on stability. The implication of
these
new types of ICANN accredited registrars needs to be assessed.
Proposal
Council needs to investigate the issue fully and so should consider
the need
for a PDP with a request for ICANN staff to write an issues report.
Draft resolution
Whereas the re-selling of certain deleted or expiring names has lead to
unforeseen strains on the ability of registries and registrars to manage
their business efficiently,
Whereas this affects the service level provided to users and the
meaning of
ICANN accredited as it applies to registrars,
Council resolves,
to request the ICANN staff manager to write an issues report (as
specified
in annex A to the ICANN by-laws) on the "Re-selling of valuable
deleted/expiring domain names in a secondary market", so that Council
can
subsequently decide if a policy development process would be
appropriate.
Many thanks
Philip
PS I am open to friendly amendments to improve the wording of the
resolution
should this help clarity.