OECD: Generic Top Level Domain Names Market Development And Allocation Issues

According to a July 13, 2004 paper from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, "Most concerns that might apply to using auctions as a tool to allocate new gTLDs do not apply to any decision on the future allocation of existing gTLDs. For example, there seem to be few, if any, obstacles to ICANN auctioning the right to be the registry responsible for .net as an adjunct to pre-qualification procedures. Indeed, there would be clear and demonstrable benefits in meeting the objectives set by ICANN. An auction would provide a transparent and verifiable mechanism for the market to value .net appropriately and avoid the pitfalls associated with comparative selection."