<p class="MsoNormal">Dear All:<br>
<br>
A Request for Information has been posted by the ad-hoc group formed by the
GNSO Council to look at Domain Tasting. The announcement can<span style=""> </span>be found at: <a href="http://www.icann.org/announcements/"><span style=""> </span>http://www.icann.org/announcements/announcement-2-10aug07.htm
<br>
</a><br>
In particular, an easy-to-use survey of the questions in the Request For Information
(RFI) is<span style=""> </span>available in the BigPulse
voting/polling system. This makes it quick and easy to<span style=""> </span><br>
register your answers to the RFI. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This can be found at: <a href="https:///">https://</a> <a href="http://www.bigpulse.com/872i">www.bigpulse.com/872i</a><br>
<br>
Real-time results from the survey are also publicly available at:<span style=""> </span><br>
<a href="http://www.bigpulse.com/pollresults?code=4Rkitd2chD5rD7eyJHJi">http://www.bigpulse.com/pollresults?code=4Rkitd2chD5rD7eyJHJi</a><br>
<br>
We hope that many in the community will take the time to register their views
and provide any suggestions of additional<span style="">
</span>sources of information to be analysed while the RFI is open - it<span style=""> </span>closes 15th September.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br>
DOMAIN NAME TASTING</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br>
<a href="http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=e68jwbcab.0.rhwdddcab.xrsqb6bab.183&ts=S0263&p=http%3A%2F%2Fpublic.icann.org%2Fissues%2Fdomain-name-tasting" target="_blank">Background info</a><br>
<br>
One sure sign of the growing maturity of the domain name system is the speculative
market that has grown up around domains. But is this market a sign of health,
the result of a loophole that needs to be closed, or somewhere in between?<br>
<br>
An <a href="http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=e68jwbcab.0.uhwdddcab.xrsqb6bab.183&ts=S0263&p=http%3A%2F%2Fgnso.icann.org%2Fissues%2Fdomain-tasting%2Fgnso-domain-tasting-report-14jun07.pdf" target="_blank">Issues Report</a>
on domain tasting was produced for the San
Juan ICANN meeting where it was discussed in a number of sessions - including a
<a href="http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=e68jwbcab.0.whwdddcab.xrsqb6bab.183&ts=S0263&p=http%3A%2F%2Fsanjuan2007.icann.org%2Fnode%2F18" target="_blank">tutorial</a> on the issue.<br>
<br>
There is no simple solution however and the GNSO Council declined to launch a
formal policy development process (PDP) into it, delaying a decision until
September in order to provide time for more research to be carried out. An ad
hoc group will draft a focused terms of reference for the possible PDP.<br>
<br>
A GNSO process isn't the only route however: ICANN staff pointed out that domain
tasting may also be tackled through the ICANN Budget process; registry
contractual changes; and the approval of new registry services. <br>
<br>
Each change would be aimed at removing the financial incentive that currently
exists for companies to register and then "drop" tens of thousands of
domain names every day.<br>
<br>
Key date:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">September: GNSO Council discussion on whether to launch domain
tasting PDP</p>