[ga] Toward a registry renewal policy

[Danny Younger <dannyyounger@xxxxxxxxx>]

Dear all,

The following is a request that I had sent to the
Council a few months ago:

"Presumptive right of renewal in perpetuity provisions
have started appearing in recent gTLD registry
contracts.  This is a policy choice -- but it is not a
choice that has been instigated as a result of the
fruits of healthy GNSO discussion and debate; the GNSO
has never formally taken up the issue.

One the one hand, there are those that will argue that
"registries are capital intensive businesses that
require significant ongoing investment to ensure
reliability, security, stability and worldwide
accessibility, so the presumptive right of renewal
provides the certainty needed to warrant investments
for the future."  They will note that "recompetitions
are expensive: it costs registries significant funds
to participate in the recompetes; it costs registrars
in transitioning from one registry to another; and
ultimately it costs consumers as registry and
registrar costs are passed down to registrants."

On the other hand, others will argue that "a policy
that promotes competition by invoking rebid mechanisms
better comports with the principles delineated in the
White Paper, serving to both drive down costs and to
guard against the emergence of monopolist behaviors".

In my view, this is a debate that needs to be entered
into by the community in the hope of arriving at some
type of community-wide consensus to better guide
ICANN's activities.

Which way is the best path forward for ICANN in the
future:  presumptive renewal provisions for
registries, or no such presumption?

The GNSO should offer the Board some guidance."

The GNSO Council has listened.  The Terms of Reference
for their new TLDs PDP includes a section devoted to
the analysis of policy to guide registry contracts. 
The Council is asking for input.




	
		
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