Re: Fees

[Kent Crispin <kent@songbird.com>]

Dave Crocker allegedly said:
> 
> At 2:13 PM -0800 12/26/96, Karl Auerbach wrote:
> >Seems like a good use of some of that 30% being witheld by NSI.
> 
> 	Why should folks interested in starting a commercial venture for
> name administration be subsidized?  Our model is to have future efforts be
> self-funding.  That requires charging applicants to cover the costs of the
> review and allocation process.  Looking for subsidies elsewhere merely
> perpetuates the "daddy pays" model that should have been eliminated when
> the Internet moved from research into commercial production, roughly 6
> years ago.
> 
> 	Whether one likes or dislikes the particulars of NSF's activities
> in this regard, they very much ARE trying to move towards full
> privatization and commercial self-funding.  The IAHC proposal is consistent
> with goal.  Seeking cross-subsidization -- even from NSI -- would not be.

Of course the folks seeking to be registrars should bear the cost of 
starting their business.  I don't think anyone disputes this.  The 
heat develops because of three factors:

1) a large part of the cost seems to be in the pre-checking of the
qualifications of the potential registrars.  This pre-checking is 
motivated by a fear that "unqualified" registrars will damage the 
system.  Many people feel that this pre-checking is largely 
unwarranted, that "unqualified" registrars will put themselves out of 
business very quickly, and that in fact there isn't any serious 
damage they can do.

2) unavoidably, a large part of the cost at first will be in 
establishing procedures and setting up infrastructure.  The $20000 
seems to reflect this cost -- once all the procedures are well 
established, automated, and running smoothly the administrative costs 
will obviously be much cheaper than at first, and in fact it is hard 
to see how a well-established automated procedure could cost $20000.

3) the $20000 is presented as an arbitrary fixed figure, instead of 
being couched in terms of the requirements at hand.  That is, things might 
be much more acceptable if the draft had been worded something like 
this: 

    "The administrative costs of establishing a registrar must be born
    by the registrar itself.  To cover all contingencies, therefore,
    all registrar applicants will be required supply a $30000 deposit
    to cover administrative costs.  All money in excess of actual
    costs will be refunded.  It is expected that in many cases the 
    actual cost will be substantially less than $30000, but there are 
    circumstances where the whole amount may be used.  IAHC will 
    provide a schedule of administrative tasks, their approximate 
    costs, and what conditions trigger various administrative tasks 
    to give prospective registrars help in planning their projected 
    expenses." 

-- 
Kent Crispin				"No reason to get excited",
kent@songbird.com,kc@llnl.gov		the thief he kindly spoke...
PGP fingerprint:   5A 16 DA 04 31 33 40 1E  87 DA 29 02 97 A3 46 2F