having pb with wifi. as soon as i can, will send this to Liz as our input the PDP??
pls send edits comments if any, in the next couple of hrs, thx
--- [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> NCUC Task Force Members' Preliminary Discussion of "Contractual Conditions 
> of Existing  gTLDs" 
> 
> These are preliminary positions developed by the NCUC Task Force members. 
> They are put  forward to stimulate discussion and debate, both within NCUC 
> and across other  constituencies. 
> 
> 
> 1.	Registry agreement renewals
> 
> We believe that it is in the public interest for there to be a renewal 
> expectancy for parties who  have been delegated generic top-level domains. 
> By "renewal expectancy" we mean that  those who were originally assigned a 
> top level domain should retain the assignment unless  there is a significan
> t problem, such as criminal activity, breach of contract, repeated failure 
> to  meet service standards, or serious noncompliance with applicable ICANN 
> rules and  policies. In this view, reassignment of the domain is punishment
>  for malfeasance -- not an  attempt to run a periodic beauty contest to 
> determine who is the "best" operator.
> 
> We believe that presumptive renewal as described above is required for a 
> long-term view of  value-creation and investment in a domain name and the 
> associated infrastructure.  Continuity and stable expectations about who 
> will be in control is required for the  development of a community. This 
> is especially true for sponsored or nonprofit domains.  Operators who 
> succeed in creating value, identity or a community around a domain should  
> not have that taken out from under them. They should be able to reap the 
> benefits of their  creation of value, and be able to build on it into the 
> future.
> 
> We accept the importance of the principle of competition. We do not, 
> however, believe that it  requires taking established domains and throwing 
> them up for grabs every five years or so  when there are no major problems 
> with the operation of a domain. Registrar-level  competition helps to 
> ensure that retail services associated with any gTLD registry will be  
> competitive, and cross-gTLD diversity will ensure users a variety of 
> naming alternatives (or  "intermodal" competition). Those are the most 
> important forms of competition. Reassigning  a gTLD simply substitutes one 
> operator with exclusive control of the domain for another.  While this can 
> put pressure on the incumbent to perform better in a short-term time 
> horizon,  we believe that on the whole the amount of time and resources 
> spent on fighting over the  control of the domain would outweigh the 
> prospective benefits. We also note that achieving  improved performance 
> from a new operator can only be a promise, and that transfers of  control 
> inherently involve costs and risks. 
> 
> 
> 2. Relationship between registry agreements and consensus policies
> 
> This is an issue that NCUC feels has not been discussed or debated 
> adequately. Our only  point is that we must distinguish carefully between 
> the problems raised by one dominant  operator's registry agreement (.com) 
> and policies that are appropriate as a general rule for  all rgeistries. 
> We look forward to listening to the views of other constituencies and the 
> public  on this question.
> 
> We believe that existing sponsored domains should retain the policy-making 
> authority. We  say this not because we support the concept of sponsored 
> domains per se, but because we  support greater diversity and decentralizat
> ion of policy making authority. 
> 
> 
> 3. Policy for price controls for registry services
> 
> We recognize that price caps can be justified as a way of protecting 
> consumers in markets  with high switching costs. Domain name registrations 
> do have high switching costs. Rather  than making specific policy 
> recommendations, we make these observations:
> 
> a) We must not assume that ICANN contracts are the proper mechanism for 
> price controls.  Regulatory authorities in national governments have some 
> ability to respond to this problem,  either through antitrust laws or 
> through sector-specific regulations. We believe that the 
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