Re: Good Monopolies/Bad Monopolies

["David R. Conrad" <davidc@apnic.net>]

Christopher,

>Exactly -- in fact, exclusive use provides a lovely opportunity for a
>form of blackmail.  Suppose, the magazine AutoWeek is created.  Car companies
>would then likely go and take out advertising in that magazine.
>Now suppose AutoMonthly is created.  How much will Ford pay to have
>their MUSTANG advert (in addition to in AutoWeek)?

If the following are true:

a) AutoMonthly advertising space is assumed to be permanent, e.g.,
   if Ford takes out page 12, it is safe to assume they will always
   be on page 12.
b) AutoMonthly limits advertisements to 63 alphanumeric characters.
c) Ford must make some effort to insure other companies do
   not advertise the name "Mustang" even if it might be legitimate
   for them to do so (e.g., "Mustang Auto Parts") since only
   one word would be advertised ("Mustang").
d) it is necessary to insure advertisements in AutoMonthly do not use
   the name Mustang to avoid dilution of the trademark.

then I imagine Ford would be willing to pay quite a bit, or rather,
more than would be necessary if there was competition in the
AutoMonthly ad space.

I think I understand where you are coming from now.  You feel the DNS
name space is simply another advertising medium and you want to
exploit that medium in the short term, even if such exploitation is
not sustainable in the long term.  I see the DNS as a basic part of
the Internet infrastructure which will still be necessary even when a
usable Internet directory mechanism exists that makes having names
closely match trademarks unnecessary.

The existance of shared domain would enable the domain name space to
grow while an Internet directory service is implemented while avoiding
the creation of pointless short term monopolies.  Sorry you don't
think you can make money on a service in which you don't have a
monopoly.

Regards,
-drc