"Richard J. Sexton" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Ok, right, and this is exactly the same as sombody on usenet
> listing their email address as [EMAIL PROTECTED] [1] in
> their signature line. The practice is extremely widespread,
> and poeple are still able to communicate just fine. One of
> the addresses in my signature below works for anybody,
> so I don't buy this argument as representing any impediment
> whatsoever.
Generally speaking, Usenet consists of a user population that is
generally much more Internet savvy than the Internet population at
large. Also, spam problems and counter-measures are generally much
better documented and understood throughout the Usenet community.
Thus, methods of concealing one's true email address are much less
likely to lead to confusion.
Is everyone who registers in an alternative TLD going to register in
an IANA TLD as well, and are they going to give multiple methods of
contact? Do they know that they need to do this? If they don't,
do they need to know that they should give an address of a friendly
relay?
> What do you mean by "stability of IANA TLDS" ? Given things
> like palestine.int, .tv, .<haiti>, .tm I'd say the alternative
> tlds are more stable. What's your metric?
For one thing, whether a person can access the resources of that TLD.
The alternative TLDs are much less stable because of the perception
(perhaps wrong) that they're not globally visible.
Anyway, the point isn't what I think, it's what people like Cerf,
etc. believe, because they influence others, like the USG, who
recognize ICANN as the NewCo, and have enabled it to enter into
agreements with NSI and other registrars. I have no problems with
alternative TLDs. I can access them just fine. The common Internet
user doesn't know what to do to access alternative TLDs.
Imagine a House Subcommittee, or for that mattter, a Supreme Court
hearing on alternative TLDs, for example. Brian Carpenter is arguing
against them; you argue for them. What criteria are the House likely
to consider significant? What are they to consider a reasonable
approach? What is likely to influence their judgment? Do you believe
that you would be able to convince them? (It may very well come to
that.)
--gregbo
