He could, but then it wouldn't be a copy of the same data, would it?
And what will you do when you set up your own freelance version of .TEL and a couple of years later ICANN lumbers along and sets up their version of .TEL? Which one will you throw away? If you tell ICANN they have to add all your "registrants", they'll just laugh.
R's,
John
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I probably (if it were me, which I strongly doubt) wouldn't insist on anything from ICANN. I would simply ignore them as much as possible. I would not set up a 'freelance .TEL', I would set up some top level domain (such as .pat) that they (ICANN) would be quite unlikely to pick anytime in the next few decades; oh hell, maybe even '.townson' and invite the whole world to use my root if they wished to do so. I might even use some possibly copyrightable phrase for the domain name making it more difficult for ICANN to copy it exactly as their own. Then they could laugh all they wanted, I guess.In addition to treating with my own root server all my own (copyrightable or unusual) top level domains, I would send requests for _their_ TLDs to some one or more root servers well outside the reach of ICANN. If they did not want to go along, and service _my_ clients, it would be their loss. You see, John, amazing things can be done when (unlike ICANN) you are not involved with the net on a purely commercial basis. When, (unlike ICANN) you do not have a deep, abiding interest in converting the net into a huge, successful business venture. The only things I would put into my contracts (and I remind you, I strongly doubt this would be me) would that the existing rules on things like the use of someone else's name, i.e. 'coca-cola.townson' would be verbotin unless you _were_ Coca Cola. Any contracts would say that if a single piece of spam or virus came out of a computer under your control, you would be out on your ass the same day, no refunds given, etc. I am thinking I would use ICANN's top-level domain names '.com' '.org' '.net' etc as my second-level names, i.e. '.com.townson' or 'org.townson' etc. Many countries do that now, for example, Great Britain with its 'co.uk' domain.
Much good could be accomplished on the net if there were other than greedy son-of-a-bitches like ICANN in charge. Again, I doubt very strongly it would be me, but I suggest a philanthropist, a weathly person who believed in doing good for the world could set up one or more root servers and have an operational philosophy which was good for all, not just ICANN and big business. After all, we have Fords, Carnagies and Rockefellers giving away millions of dollars for schools, libraries and such. Why not such a person for the Internet? PAT]