I have to agree with Bret (and thank him for bringing us up). We proposed .Web in 1995, were asked by Jon Postel to build out the registry and prove the concept in 1996, waited until the process wound through three administrations until 2000 when we pay $50,000 to apply to ICANN and were told, in no uncertain terms, "You're not turned-down, you're just not approved yet. Next round." So we're still waiting, some ten years later. Issues around an auction notwithstanding, to hold an auction and require those who paid the $50,000 application fee in year 2000 and are still waiting to compete would hardly be fair. Of the applicants in 2000, there are some 40 or so remaining. I suspect that of those, only 10 still want in. That's a guess. It might be 15. Let's address those first and "clear the books" before we create a whole new process.