At 5:23 PM -0700 10/8/03, David Schwartz wrote:
Is it possibly time to suggest that perhaps ICANN should call for formal separation of regiSTRAR functions from regiSTRY functions, and stipulate that stewards of record for regiSTRY functions not participate in regiSTRAR roles?
Already done -- read the contact between ICANN and VeriSign.
Certainly it's been shown to be very difficult to resist the temptation to extend editorial control over what entries get placed into the DNS records as a regiSTRY if you also happen to be able to increase the profits from your regiSTRAR role.
Sure, but you could also do it to increase the profits from your registry role, which seems to have been the intent of SiteFinder.
If the functions are stipulated to be kept separate,
They are.
then we have a much better opportunity to engage a system of checks and balances, to self-limit potential future abuses like this.
How would that stop a registry from, for example, adding a wildcard record that goes to pages sold to the highest bidder? Registry functions are supposed to be wholly ministerial. VeriSign doesn't get that and ICANN is going to have to force them to -- probably more than once.
DS