I still just don't get this.

From the standpoint of a trained political economist, If the city of Syracuse recognizes air rights it is not producing a product, it is defining property rights, which is what legislators & regulators do. The private entity who buys or acquires the rights and puts them to use (e.g., constructing a building) is producing a product.

To take the analogy further, the FCC defines the rules for exclusive or nonexclusive radio spectrum rights. Those rights can sell for billions of dollars. No one where I come from call the FCC a producer of a "product;" they call it the regulator of the spectrum. They call Verizon, AT&T, et al - the enterprises who acquire and put to use the spectrum - producers of a product.

Likewise, ICANN, as regulator of the DNS, recognizes exclusive rights to TLD strings, which are then acquired by businesses. It is, therefore, still more accurate to call it a regulator and coordinator of the DNS than to say it is engaged in product production.

I suspect this whole debate has lost its point, however.  If you want to call ICANN a producer of a product and its ability to add TLDs to the root it's fine. But let's not ever lose sight of the fact that it's a regulator, not a corporate enterprise.

From: NCSG-Discuss [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Sam Lanfranco
Sent: Tuesday, March 31, 2015 11:56 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [NCSG-Discuss] [Info] IPC Letter to ICANN regarding .SUCKS

Milton,

When the municipal government in (say) Syracuse creates/recognizes "air rights" over a downtown building, and those become marketable and the next property buys them to build a tall building next door, they are a product.  From the vantage point of a trained economist, I don't see how the notion of product will not be brought to bear here. There are too many legal issues and externalities involved for that to not happen.

As for ICANN, let the process unfold and in a decade, or less, after some case law and interventions at various levels of governance, we can revisit your question.
I am happy to stand or fall based on the evidence as it rolls out, or or doesn't.

Sam

On 31/03/2015 10:06 AM, Milton L Mueller wrote:


From: Sam Lanfranco [mailto:[log in to unmask]]

I purposefully used "product" since the mantra within ICANN is that being a "regulator and coordinator of the global DNS" means that it is not engaged in product production.

And you think it is engaged in product production? What is its product, pray tell?