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===Innovative Auctions===
===Innovative Auctions===
[[Innovative Auctions]] (IAL) is offering gTLD auction services to applicants in contention in ICANN's New gTLD Program. Their [[Applicant Auction]] was designed by Dr. [[Peter Cramton]], a leading expert on auction design and strategy.
[[Innovative Auctions]] (IAL) is offering gTLD auction services to applicants in contention in ICANN's New gTLD Program. Their [[Applicant Auction]] was designed by Dr. [[Peter Cramton]], a leading expert on auction design and strategy.
IAL is the first group to have resolved gTLD contention sets via private auction and has resolved more than any other private auction. The first Applicant Auction was held in June 2013, and to date, Innovative Auctions has resolved contention for more than 25 gTLDs. For the first 14 strings, the total sales price was $18.66 million <ref name="Applicant Auction">[[http://www.applicantauction.com/blog/]]</ref>. The results of the subsequent auctions have not been disclosed.
[[Innovative Auctions]]' model is preferred by many applicants, including the largest [[TLD]] applicant, [[Donuts]].<ref>[http://domainincite.com/10828-heres-how-donuts-wants-to-resolve-its-158-new-gtld-contention-fights Here's How Donuts Wants To Resolve its 158 Contention Fights, DomainIncite.com]Published 23 Oct 2012, Retrieved 8 Jan 2013</ref> [[Raymond King]], applicant for 10 TLDs with [[Top Level Design]] expressed his favor for Private Auctions in general, and Innovative Auctions specifically, in an [http://www.circleid.com/posts/20130102_private_vs_icann_auction_of_last_resort/ opinion piece on CircleID]. The Applicant Auction was featured in a recent article [http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/elements/2013/08/web-domains-great-internet-land-grab.html in The New Yorker].
During [[ICANN 45]] in Toronto, auction expert Dr. Cramton outlined an "ascending clock" model, where a price is increased by the auctioneer at each stage; bidders and sellers can then either drop out or bid on the increased amount.<ref name="domainincite">[http://domainincite.com/10828-heres-how-donuts-wants-to-resolve-its-158-new-gtld-contention-fights Here's how Donuts wants to resolve its 158 new gTLD contention fights]. Domain Incite. Published 2012 October 23. Retrieved 2012 November 13.</ref> ICANN has identified the same style of auction for its own Auction of Last Resort.<ref>[http://www.cramton.umd.edu/aa/cramton-applicant-auction-in-brief.pdf Applicant Auction in Brief, Cramton.umd.edu]Published 21 Nov 2012, retrieved Jan 7 2013</ref> At his presentation following the ICANN Draw in December 2012, Dr. Cramton also also addressed a sequential first-price sealed bid, noting that the ascending clock model is still preferred given that it involves: better price discovery, better deposit management, reduced tendency to overbid, and is more consistent with the ICANN Auction of Last Resort.<ref name="Cramton Draw Proposal">[http://www.cramton.umd.edu/aa/cramton-applicant-auction-conference-slides.pdf Cramton Applicant Auction Conference Slides, Cramton.umd.edu]Retrieved Jan 7 2013]</ref>
During [[ICANN 45]] in Toronto, auction expert Dr. Cramton outlined an "ascending clock" model, where a price is increased by the auctioneer at each stage; bidders and sellers can then either drop out or bid on the increased amount.<ref name="domainincite">[http://domainincite.com/10828-heres-how-donuts-wants-to-resolve-its-158-new-gtld-contention-fights Here's how Donuts wants to resolve its 158 new gTLD contention fights]. Domain Incite. Published 2012 October 23. Retrieved 2012 November 13.</ref> ICANN has identified the same style of auction for its own Auction of Last Resort.<ref>[http://www.cramton.umd.edu/aa/cramton-applicant-auction-in-brief.pdf Applicant Auction in Brief, Cramton.umd.edu]Published 21 Nov 2012, retrieved Jan 7 2013</ref> At his presentation following the ICANN Draw in December 2012, Dr. Cramton also also addressed a sequential first-price sealed bid, noting that the ascending clock model is still preferred given that it involves: better price discovery, better deposit management, reduced tendency to overbid, and is more consistent with the ICANN Auction of Last Resort.<ref name="Cramton Draw Proposal">[http://www.cramton.umd.edu/aa/cramton-applicant-auction-conference-slides.pdf Cramton Applicant Auction Conference Slides, Cramton.umd.edu]Retrieved Jan 7 2013]</ref>
Cramton's original model proposed to run auctions during the first quarter of 2013, before ICANN announced the results of their Initial Evaluation. Such a model would allow losing bidders to receive 70% back from their ICANN application fee, but would pose difficulties if winning applicants later discovered their applications were rejected as other applicants would have withdrawn already, and the new gTLD would be left without an owner. The former model also lumped all TLDs that an individual applicant had applied for in one package. Criticisms stating that such a model would benefit larger companies led to a change, so that auctions will now proceed on a TLD-by-TLD basis, with all auctions being simultaneously resolved at the same time.<ref name="domainincite"></ref>
Cramton's original model proposed to run auctions during the first quarter of 2013, before ICANN announced the results of their Initial Evaluation. Such a model would allow losing bidders to receive 70% back from their ICANN application fee, but would pose difficulties if winning applicants later discovered their applications were rejected as other applicants would have withdrawn already, and the new gTLD would be left without an owner. The former model also lumped all TLDs that an individual applicant had applied for in one package. Criticisms stating that such a model would benefit larger companies led to a change, so that auctions will now proceed on a TLD-by-TLD basis, with all auctions being simultaneously resolved at the same time.<ref name="domainincite"></ref>
===Right of the Dot===
===Right of the Dot===