IP: reserved single-letter domains

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

> To: Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>, simon () higgs com
> From: edyson () edventure com (Esther Dyson)
>
>
> > Return-Path: <touton () icann org>
> > Date: Sun, 30 Jul 2000 10:50:46 -0700
> > From: Louis Touton <touton () icann org>
> > X-Accept-Language: en
> > To: Esther Dyson <edyson () edventure com>
> > Subject: Re: Fwd: Re: reserved single-letter domains
> > References: <20000730151140165.AAA488 () gateway edventure com@esther>
> >
> > Esther,
> >
> > There was no "theft of public property"--they just have their
> > facts wrong.  The name x.com was registered by an Internet user
> > sometime before 1993 when Jon Postel registered all the available
> > single-character names to reserve them for use in the public
> > interest.  (He managed to register all but six out of 144 possible
> > in .com, .edu, .net, and .org.)
> >
> > Immediately below I have copied a message I recently sent regarding
> > these issues.
> >
> > Louis Touton
> >
> > ===============================================================
> > Subject:  Re: FW: "d.com"
> >   Date:  Sun, 04 Jun 2000 17:11:53 -0700
> >   From:  Louis Touton <touton () icann org>
> >     To:  malkav () clic net
> >
> > Dear Mike,
> >
> > Please accept my apologies for the delay in responding to your
> > inquiry regarding "d.com".
> >
> > The IANA obtained the registration for d.com and most other
> > single-character names under .com in 1993 (the prior reference
> > to 1992 was in error) to implement its policy designed to
> > enhance the extensibilty of the domain-name space.  Since
> > then, these names have been continuously under registration
> > by the IANA.  The IANA has received many inquiries from people
> > seeking to register these names.  As required by the existing
> > policy, the IANA advises those inquiring that these names are
> > already registered to the IANA and reserved for infrastructure
> > purposes to help ensure stable operation of the Internet.
> > The IANA has uniformly turned down all offers by third parties
> > to purchase the right to register these names.
> >
> > Four of the single-character names under .com were registered
> > by other parties before the IANA entered its registration of
> > these names.  The registrations of these names have been (and
> > are) grandfathered for the time being.  Recently some of these
> > registrations have been transferred from one third party to
> > another.  Those transfers are consistent with the grandfathering
> > policy.
> >
> > Having assumed the responsibility for operating the IANA, and
> > for overall technical management of the Internet, ICANN is
> > following the same policies for the operation of the IANA as
> > were followed by Dr. Postel and his colleagues at the Information
> > Sciences Institute.  ICANN's charter and bylaws, together with its
> > obligations under its various agreements with the United States
> > Government, establish consensus-based procedures for modification
> > of existing policies, fostering participation by affected parties.
> > Until the policy is changed by the established procedures, ICANN
> > is required to continue its registration of the single-letter
> > .com domain names for the benefit of the Internet community.
> >
> > While one can understand your company's desire to adopt a catchy
> > name such as "d," trademark it, and use "d.com" as its domain name,
> > giving up these domain names to private parties would, as
> > reflected in existing policy, restrict the IANA's ability to
> > fulfill its responsibility to ensure a stable, extensible domain-
> > name system.
> >
> > Best regards,
> >
> > Louis Touton
> > ICANN Vice President
> > ===============================================================
> >
> > Esther Dyson wrote:
> > > know anything about this???  (at end)
> > >
> > > Esther
> > >
> > > > Return-Path: <farber () cis upenn edu>
> > > > X-Sender: farber () linc cis upenn edu
> > > > Date: Sun, 30 Jul 2000 08:26:43 -0400
> > > > To: edyson () edventure com
> > > > From: Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>
> > > > Subject: Fwd: Re: reserved single-letter domains
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > > Date: Sun, 30 Jul 2000 13:24:21 +0100 (BST)
> > > > > From: thomas lakofski <thomas () 88 net>
> > > > > To: Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>
> > > > > Subject: Re: reserved single-letter domains
> > > > >
> > > > > On Sun, 30 Jul 2000, Dave Farber wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > > > Date: Wed, 26 Jul 2000 10:37:52 -0700
> > > > > > > To: farber () cis upenn edu
> > > > > > > From: Simon Higgs <simon () higgs com>
> > > > >
> > > > > [snip]
> > > > >
> > > > > > > 2. www.paypal.com, redirects you to X.COM. A single letter 
> domain name
> > > > > > > taken from the RESERVED single letter domain name pool at IANA. 
> No one
> > > > > > > wants to explain, or be accountable for, how they got the domain 
> name.
> > > > > And
> > > > > > > no-one at ICANN wants to make the situation equitable to all by
> releasing
> > > > > > > the other single letter domains. But that's a whole other can of
> worms...
> > > > > I'd like to see this can of worms addressed too.  It seems that sometime
> > > > > around last December there must have been some confusion amongst
> > > > > registrars which allowed reserved domains to be registered.  I'm 
> surprised
> > > > > that this has received no coverage -- it's a shame that the regulatory
> > > > > framework is so ineffective that there is no recourse for what is
> > > > > basically theft of public property (x.com, i.net, etc.).
> > > > >
> > > > > -Thomas
> > >
> > > Esther Dyson                    Always make new mistakes!
> > > chairman, EDventure Holdings
> > > chairman, Internet Corp. for Assigned Names & Numbers
> > > edyson () edventure com
> > > 1 (212) 924-8800    --  1 (212) 924-0240 fax
> > > 104 Fifth Avenue (between 15th and 16th Streets; 20th floor)
> > > New York, NY 10011 USA
> > > http://www.edventure.com                    http://www.icann.org
> > >
> > > PC Forum: 25 to 28 March 2001, Scottsdale (Phoenix), Arizona
> > > Book:  "Release 2.1: A design for living in the digital age"
> > > High-Tech Forum in Europe: November 1 to 3 - Barcelona
>
>
> Esther Dyson                    Always make new mistakes!
> chairman, EDventure Holdings
> chairman, Internet Corp. for Assigned Names & Numbers
> edyson () edventure com
> 1 (212) 924-8800    --  1 (212) 924-0240 fax
> 104 Fifth Avenue (between 15th and 16th Streets; 20th floor)
> New York, NY 10011 USA
> http://www.edventure.com                    http://www.icann.org
>
> PC Forum: 25 to 28 March 2001, Scottsdale (Phoenix), Arizona
> Book:  "Release 2.1: A design for living in the digital age"
> High-Tech Forum in Europe: November 1 to 3 - Barcelona