Dotster, Verisign, Wait listing and a petition

[jak]

sorry for the length of this, however, i think some of you will be interested in this information from Dotster and it's petition:

July 12, 2002

Dear Dotster Customers,
I am writing you today to let you know of some potentially harmful changes that are being proposed for the domain name registration industry. These changes, if adopted, would restrict consumer choice, cause domain pricing to drastically increase, and re-create the monopolistic atmosphere that once existed in our industry when Network Solutions (now VeriSign) was the only game in town. Dotster, and other smaller registrars, need your support to help us maintain the healthy, competitive environment that currently exists today.

First, let me give you a little background on this issue. At the end of 2001, VeriSign proposed to ICANN a Domain Name Wait Listing Service (WLS) as a way to manage the registration of expiring domain names (for those of you unfamiliar with ICANN, this is the organization that was established several years ago to govern the domain industry when the Network Solutions monopoly was broken up). This proposal includes a partnership between VeriSign and SnapNames, a competitor to Dotster and other registrars in the secondary domain market sector. This proposed partnership would effectively eliminate all other competition in the secondary market, thereby eliminating your choices and the competitive alternatives that currently exist. At the recent ICANN meetings in Bucharest, it was determined that a final position regarding the proposal must be decided by the end of this month.

Dotster strongly opposes this proposal as harmful to the consumer and the entire domain registration industry. I recently wrote a letter to Marilyn Cade, Chair of ICANN's WLS Task Force, to express Dotster's position on the proposal. The entire letter is available for review by clicking the link below, and I encourage you to review it and consider the implications that adopting this proposal would place on the entire domain name system. How will it affect you?

Letter to Chair of WLS Task Force: http://www.dotster.com/resources/wls.pdf

We need your support! If you agree with Dotster's stance on this issue, please let me know. Send me an e-mail at WLS@dotster.com to share your comments and support. We are currently in a 10-day comment period, and we need your comments before the end of July. In addition, I ask that you post your opinion at the ICANN WLS forum at:
http://forum.icann.org/wls/

and participate in the petition against WLS at:
http://www.petitiononline.com/antiwls/petition.html

Thank you for your continued support of Dotster. VeriSign is an industry giant, but banded together it is my hope that we can preserve an environment that fosters innovation and healthy competition for the benefit of you, the consumer.

Sincerely,
Clint Page President, Dotster Inc. WLS@dotster.com.

julie
jak graphic solutions, inc.

-- signer #1301 --