There’s an ongoing discussion about dotPH in the seo-philippine egroup and also at yuga’s blog

Ahmed and noemi made a comment about factoring the salary in determining the price. I think this is a great suggestion. People from other countries have bigger salaries which can afford a higher cost of domain registration.

Even ccTLD for Tokelau which is .TK is being given out free.

If dotPH can have a local rate such as $10 for pinoys registering here in the Philippines and maintain the $35 for international registrants like companies who just want to protect their brands, then that would be a good solution.

My View

If dotPH loses control of .ph domain administration to the Philippine Gov’t, they won’t be able to control the pricing and they can lose millions of (potential revenue) if the gov’t lowers the price of registration.

dotPH – lose
people – win

If dotPH retains control of .ph domain, they protect their financial interest.

dotPH – win
people – lose

I also like what Markku said. dotPH does not own the .ph domain unlike microsoft of “owns” a product called windows. dotPH are ‘administrators’ of the domain and at the same time ‘registrars’.

In my opinion the country should be able to choose who will administer ccTLD’s. That’s why it is called country code top level domains. Unfortunately, that is not how it goes. However, the government’s wishes do have some bearing on the replacement of ccTLD administrators. Keep reading until you reach item #19 below.

In this ICANN document item 16 states…

16. In addition to so-called “generic” TLDs such as “.com,” “.net,” and “.gov,” there are also numerous “country code” TLDs, which are commonly referred to as ccTLDs. Examples of ccTLDs are “.us” for the United States, “.uk” for the United Kingdom, and “.bz” for Belize. These ccTLDs are generally used for Internet addresses that are specific to a country based on two-letter codes that appear on a list prepared by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). Country code TLDs are administered by appointed ccTLD managers, who act as trustees performing a service on behalf of the Internet community, both globally and in the country or territory designated by the country code.

So ccTLDs are appointed by ICANN and they administer the domain on behalf of the internet community. Which means, they can be replaced.

Let’s check out item 18

18. Each ccTLD has a technical contact and an administrative contact (in a few cases they are the same person). Pursuant to ICP-1 and other aspects of existing policies and procedures, ICANN can and does make recommendations to the Department of Commerce in regard to replacement of those contacts. As noted above, the IANA Contract provides that ICANN is not authorized to redelegate top-level domains. ICP-1 further states: “TLD Manager responsibility. TLD managers are trustees for the delegated domain, and have a duty to serve the community. The designated manager is the trustee of the TLD for both the nation, in the case of ccTLDs, and the global Internet community. Concerns about ‘rights’ and ‘ownership’ of domains are inappropriate. It is appropriate, however, to be concerned about ‘responsibilities’ and ‘service’ to the community.”

So ‘rights’ and ‘ownerships’ of domains are innapropriate. The ccTLD Administrator does not “own” .ph

So how can ccTLD administrator/managers be replaced? Check item 19.

19. ICANN’s recommendations regarding the possible replacement of the managers of a ccTLD are based on a number of factors that are designed to ensure the sound operation of the Internet. Although one of those factors is the wishes of the government of the country involved, no foreign government “owns” its ccTLD or can order ICANN or the Department of Commerce to take any actions with respect to a ccTLD. Indeed, under current policy ccTLDs are not “owned” in any sense; they are made available to benefit the entire Internet community.

With this we know that it is possible to replace the managers of ccTLD but unfortunately, no government can order ICANN to take any actions. Which is why I think the Philippine gov’t has a hard time getting control of .ph

Apart from that it says “..a number of factors that are designed to ensure the sound operation of the internet“. Operation wise, dotPH is doing a good job of handling .ph domains.

It may be hard for ICANN do justify redeligation based solely on price issue.

So what can we do? Here’s a step by step redeligation document by ICANN.

Step by step redeligation document can be found here.

There should be an attachment to the redeligation request and this is what I think is the key to a successful redeligation

Documentation describing the basis for the redelegation, and why it is consistent with the interests of the local Internet community. This should include demonstration of local support, as well as a summary of the intended operation of the domain name.
and this

Documentation establishing that the organization to which the redelegation is sought has the appropriate technical and other skills to operate a TLD registry.

So there it is. If those 2 are met, I think there is a good chance of redeligation. Otherwise, we might have to live with the current situation.