I’ve just returned from Sydney where I was at the ICANN meetings giving a presentation (with Steve Salop of Georgetown Law) and participating in a Q&A on the potential economic consequences of vertical integration between registries and registrars. I had a great time on the panel, but the highlight for me was spending talking to the various industry and ICANN representatives. This is a fascinating and dynamic space with more interesting legal and economic issues than one can imagine. I’m thrilled that I was able to go and learned a lot.
Note to graduate students studying economics, industrial organization, regulation, public and law and economics: this is a field ripe for dissertation topics and in need of both theoretical and empirical contributions.