[council] Proposed Motion requesting Issues Report on Vertical Integration & Registry/Registrar Cross-Ownership

["Mary Wong" <MWong@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi everyone,
 
On behalf of the NCUC, I am proposing the following motion:
"Whereas, Recommendation 19 of the GNSO policy authorizing the new gTLD process 
states: "Registries must use only ICANN accredited registrars in registering 
domain names and may not discriminate among such accredited registrars;"

Whereas, opening up the market to many new TLD operators calls into question 
some of the assumptions on which the separation of registry and registrar 
functions is based;
Whereas, economic research commissioned by ICANN staff also suggests that 
changes might be justified;
Whereas, the new gTLD policies passed by the Council do not provide any policy 
guidance regarding the proper approach to cross ownership and vertical 
integration, but instead suggest that the status quo be left in place;
Resolved: the GNSO Council should initiate a policy development process on 
registry-registrar cross-ownership and the policies that should be applied to 
vertical integration or separation of gTLD registrars and registries and 
requests that an Issues Report be done on this question. This policy process 
should not delay or affect the progress of the new gTLD application process but 
should run in parallel."
Thank you. Background information relating to the NCUC position on this issue 
will follow shortly.
 
Best regards,
Mary
 
 
Mary W S Wong
Professor of Law
Franklin Pierce Law Center
Two White Street
Concord, NH 03301
USA
Email: mwong@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Phone: 1-603-513-5143
Webpage: http://www.piercelaw.edu/marywong/index.php
Selected writings available on the Social Science Research Network (SSRN) at: 
http://ssrn.com/author=437584