In response to various contributions on this subject:

I am delighted that the .museum initiative has triggered active
discussion here. I am, however, equally disheartened by the lack
of attention to the actual proposal that characterizes some of
the commentary on it.

This is apparently something that has simply been met with
suspicion from some quarters. Sadly, it is unclear if all
participants have a real interest in its objective discussion. I
am therefore uncertain about how best to proceed. It shouldn't
really be necessary to repeat piecemeal things that are fully on
the public record. Assuming that at least some of the difficulty
is a result of a lack of clarity in the parent document, it may
be helpful for me to address each such misunderstanding as it
arises.

First, although the proposal for the museum TLD lists alternative
designations, only one of these may ultimately be accepted. The
proposal indicates a clear preference for .museum but since
ICANN's requirements for the actual length of a TLD designation
are unclear, we suggest a series of obvious alternatives. Many
other TLD applícations do the same thing for the same reason.

Second, the Museum Domain Management Association was created for
the sole purpose of submitting a proposal for a museum TLD and,
should the proposal be approved, providing the initial basis for
its operation. Any other agency could have prepared a similar
proposal but, as a matter of simple fact, none did.

I suppose that it would be possible for an energetic enough
negative lobby to derail the MDMA intiative. Indeed, there is
nothing at this point that indicates its decisive advantage over
a number of other proposals vying for a limited number of slots.

It is utterly beyond my ability to understand how the museum
community would benefit from the rejection of the establishment
of a dedicated domain for it.

/Cary

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