Chartered TLDs

[Paul Ezra Kautz <pek@iu.big-island.va.us>]

There's been some hoopla about having restricted TLDs, such as "MEDICAL."
Personally, I think there should be a mechanism to give certain
ITLDs (ie, not generic) a charter regarding policies. For example,
there could be an ITLD that keeps records private, one that requires
Dillonesque third-levity, one restricted to those in the medical
profession, and so on. I'll call them chartered TLDs (CTLDs).

Some have been arguing that this requires an exclusive registry.
I disagree. CORE, being composed of competing organs, can watchdog
itself to make sure other organs adhere to the charters. If that
isn't enough, it can be made an open process (where applicable -
an anonymous CTLD would be harder to monitor) so that anyone can
keep an eye on the registrars.

Indeed, I think it's a silly argument, given that in any GTLD,
SLD delegations are exclusive, and that should be sufficient to
satisfy closed registration plans. In fact, something like "MEDICAL"
I wouldn't be compelled to give an ITLD. (But that's just me.)

Paul Kautz