Proposals for Enhancing Verisign Registry Name Deletion Processes

01-29-02
Update:Verisign has released a revised version [PDF] of the WLS proposal for wider consultation with various stakeholders. Accompanying this document is a "justification" [PDF] explaining why the service is useful.

01-10-02
Update:On December 30, 2001, Verisign tabled their "Wait List Service" [PDF] proposal with the Registrar Constituency of the DNSO. Since that time, much discussion has ensued on a number of mailing lists. Further information concerning this new proposition can be found at the following links:

Other counter-proposals have also been submitted. I will attempt to round them all up and post links as soon as I get a chance.

10-16-01
Interested parties attended an informal meeting in Montevideo, Uruguay (contemporaneously with the quarterly ICANN General Meetings) at the invitation of Verisign Global Registry Services. The purpose of this meeting was to suggestion solutions to Verisign's registered name deletion problems. For a variety of reasons, Verisign has been forced to move to an interim registration processing system that meets the needs of very few parties. Several proposals were tabled at this meeting, however it was clear to all in attendance that further discussion was required to fully explain and analyse the various propositions. As a result of this, a mailing list (icann-delete@total.confusion.net) was created, several propositions were tabled and much discussion ensued.

These various proposals, discussion summaries and a list of active participants can be found below.

Minutes from the Montevideo meeting, while requested, have not yet been made available.

Proposals

Discussion participants tabled a number of proposals for discussion.

Discussion Summaries

Discussion at the meeting and on the mailing list was varied and spirited. Unfortunately, it tended to stray from the original mandate and move into areas that, while beneficial to some proposers, did not produce conclusions resulting in tangible suggestions for Verisign-GRS. Debate quickly moved from the substance of the proposals into the re-organization of the secondary market to the benefit of consumers.

Verisign-GRS has concluded that it prefers the SnapNames proposition over the others. This will have the side-effect of:

For reference sake, the Verisign analysis of the discussion, authored by Chuck Gomes, can be found here.

The Tucows "VGRS Obligations" proposal was created and presented in response to the VGRS analysis.

Oct. 23 Straw Poll

Poll Background

In an attempt to gauge the current state of thinking within the icann-delete discussion group, an informal straw poll was undertaken the week leading up to October 23, 2001 to determine which proposals were currently favored by the group. The ballot for this poll, as presented on October 17, 2001, was as follows: 

---ballot---


 There have been four proposals tabled for discussion. Please indicate with
 an "X" in the space provided which proposal you or your firm is *most
 likely* to support. If you do not feel that any of the proposals adequately
 solve the problems as described on the mailing list, please select "NONE".


 [  ] AfterNIC Post-Expiration Auction Proposal
 [  ] MelbourneIT/Tucows Random Assignment Joint Proposal
 [  ] SnapNames Parallel Registry Proposal
 [  ] Tucows "Verisign Obligations" Proposal
 [  ] NONE


 ---ballot---

This ballot was amended to include an "Other: Please specify" option on October 19 and all participants were provided the opportunity to change their vote.

Poll Results

The results of this informal poll are:

 [1 ] AfterNIC Post-Expiration Auction Proposal
 [6 ] MelbourneIT/Tucows Random Assignment Joint Proposal
 [3 ] SnapNames Parallel Registry Proposal
 [1 ] Tucows "Verisign Obligations" Proposal
 [0 ] NONE
 [3 ] OTHER: Please specify:
	- Sealed bid auction (modification of AfterNIC proposal)
	- Keep the current system, but improve it (Whiting "Mousetrap")
	- IARegistry Optimization Proposal
 [1 ] ABSTAIN

Votes Cast: 15
Unique Stakeholders: 14
Abstentions: 1

Active Discussion Participants

The following is a list of the people that have posted at least once to the icann-delete mailing list between 09/12/01 and 10/19/01. This list does not reflect the participants from the MvD meeting.

Company Name # of Posts
007 Names Joyce Lin 1
AfterNIC/Register.com Peter Girard 6
Jordyn Buchanan 19
Buildable.com Harold Whiting 21
DomainRegistry.com Larry Erlich 19
eNom Paul Stahura 11
IARegistry David Wascher 13
ICANN Dan Halloran 2
Intercosmos Donny Simonton 1
Melbourne IT Bruce Tonkin 7
Momentous.ca Rob Hall 22
Neulevel Fernando Espana 1
  Larry Vagnoni 1
  Richard Tindal 1
Registrar Constituency Rick Wesson 18
SnapNames Cameron Powell 19
  Denney Cole 1
  Kjel Holmberg 1
  Len Bayles 5
  Ron Weiner 4
Tucows Elliot Noss 1
Ross Wm. Rader 38
Verisign Registry Chuck Gomes 22
Total Participants: 23
Total Stakeholders: 15
Total Posts: 234
Avg Posts/Participant: 10.1
Avg Posts/Stakeholder: 15.6

Last updated: 10-16-2001 by Ross Wm. Rader