RE: [registrars] RE: [council] Motions re Domain Tasting

["John Berryhill" <john@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>it basically mirrors what Afilias and NeuStar are
>putting through the funnel process anyway. 

Section 1 appears to do that, but it is not limited to a "per registrar"
basis.  It simply says that the registry can't delete more than 10% or 50
names.  In other words, where is the registrar in section 1(a)?  Then
Section 2 undoes that:

" 2.	The above restriction on use of the Add Grace Period shall be
considered an "ICANN adopted specification or polic[y] prohibiting or
restricting warehousing of or speculation in domain names by registrars" in
accordance with Section 3.7.9 of the Registrar Accreditation Agreement.  As
such, a Registrar that engages in domain tasting, defined as using the AGP
to register domain names in order to test their profitability, shall be
deemed in material breach of the Registrar Accreditation Agreement."

These two sentences are contradictory.  

The "above restriction" in the first sentence is a limit of 10% or 50 names,
whichever is greater (again, it's not clear whether that applies to the
registry, or any particular registrar).

Sentence two is a trainwreck:

The second sentence is an unqualified statement that "using the AGP to
register domain names in order to test their profitability, shall be deemed
in material breach of the Registrar Accreditation Agreement".  The "10% or
50 names" disappears there.  Since "domain names" is any number of names in
excess of 1.  Sentence two states that testing profitability of two domain
names shall be a material breach of the RAA. 

Another problem with sentence two is what is meant by "using the AGP".  The
AGP applies to _all_ domain names registered, whether they are deleted or
not.  In other words, let's say that I register a domain name, pay for it,
and keep it for term.  The AGP certainly applied to the process.  Was the
AGP "used" in connection with that name?  It was "used" by the registry to
determine that, yes, the registry fee for the name must be paid.

And, of course, once you realize that the AGP is always "used" in some sense
(whether or not a domain is deleted during it) the major problem with
sentence two is that it bars registration of domain names "in order to test
their profitability". 

Is one "testing the profitability" of a domain name if one is seeking to
determine whether a registrant is going to pay for it, or if the
registrant's payment information is valid?

Aren't all retail registrars engaged in "testing the profitability" of
domain names?

Wasn't that the basis of the "buy one get one free" promotion that some
registrars were running in connection with .info a while back?