[ga] Regarding Registry and Registrar Separation

["Michael Young" <myoung@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Dear Internet Community,

 

As some of you may know, Afilias is a member of a group of concerned
companies that have advocated for policies designed to reflect the public
interest, namely of fair and open competition that benefits not only us, but
all Internet users.  ICANN is now faced with a critically important decision
on whether to remove the trusted and proven safeguards that prevent
registrars from owning and operating registries.   Because of our concern
for end users, support for the success for new TLDs, and a strong belief in
the benefits of fair competition, we vigorously oppose removing these
critical safeguards and strongly support registry-registrar separation.

  

The documents reflecting our position as well as statements from a wide
cross section of stakeholders ( INTA,  EU, 11 supporting registries, letter
to the ICANN Board from PIR, NeuStar and Afilias  etc) are now on a  website
at http://www.registryregistrarseparation.org that was launched on June 20th
to help illustrate and consolidate the key arguments against the proposed
vertical integration. 

 

We have argued for a transparent process in illustrating the arguments for
and against and hope that you and your members might show an interest in the
topic. 

 

Best Regards,

 

Michael Young

Afilias