Hi,

The one thing I want to point out is that despite the existence of
private auctions since the beginning, there have been several ICANN
auctions and there are already 50+ million in the bank.
<https://gtldresult.icann.org/application-result/applicationstatus/auctionresults>.
 That is a chunk of change.

All of the applicants in a contention set have to agree to a private
auction.  And they don't always do so.  They don't for various reasons,
animosity among the contention set and the belief that private auctions
drive prices higher are two reasons I have heard.

The point is some are using the ICANN Auction, certainly not all or even
most, but enough for us to be talking about real money.

avri


On 14-Apr-15 19:35, Sam Lanfranco wrote:
> The displacement of ICANN gTLD auctions by Private Auctions
> 
> On the NCSG Policy meeting conference call today (Tuesday 14th April) I
> wrote in the Chat room that in any new (future) gTLD round the
> likelihood of ICANN gTLD string auctions is zero, and hence that there
> will be no new auction proceeds to be allocated for efforts like helping
> developing and under serviced areas of the globe. I was asked for
> background for that assessment. Here is some background and here are
> some links.
> 
> http://www.domainmondo.com/2015/02/icann-new-gtld-private-auctions-2015.html
>  
> http://domainincite.com/14182-second-private-auction-nets-1-2m-per-gtld
> 
> All of the approved contenders (the contention set) for a gTLD are fully
> known to each other and it is in their self-interest to sort out who
> actually is awarded the new gTLD string, without having to resort to an
> ICANN auction. Initially, when they could not sort it out the ICANN
> process held an auction with the winner (as per the terms of the
> auction) got the new gTLD string. ICANN got the net auction proceeds.
> There has been long discussion within the ICANN community with regard to
> how those auction proceeds might be used.
> 
> It did not take much thought for the private sector, auction experts,
> and the contenders for the new gTLD strings to come up with a better
> (more self-serving) solution when negotiation, consensus, side payments,
> and/or whatever failed to narrow down the applicant list to one
> contender/. [Note: This is not about the situation where an ICANN
> awarded gTLD is subsequently put up for auction.]/
> 
> Rather than triggering an ICANN auction, the contenders resort to a
> private auction among themselves. All contenders have to agree, but the
> benefits of agreeing are considerable. There is a private auction (no
> public disclosure) where the wining bid (as per the terms of the
> auction) is divided up among the losers (if losers is the right term in
> such a scenario).  Considerable sums are involved, all is perfectly
> legal. No auction proceeds go to ICANN, hence, under this scenario,
> there will be no new proceeds to ICANN from any subsequent new gTLD
> round.   
> 
> Sam L.

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