Each entry is authenticated. There is always a way to find out the party responsible for an entry. This is not the case with IANA's current registry. Responsibility for entries may be transferred. Comments may be attached to an entry, for example, to suggest better names or identify potential conflicts.
Public comments avoid multiple parties redundantly contacting the original party.
Entries can be seen by others immediately. There is no lag from the time of submission to approval. Descriptions must include their status with respect to use and standards. Placeholder identifiers, deprecated identifiers, and other non-official or de facto identifiers are encouraged if they clarify knowledge needed by other users. NICS is a name registry that avoids political issues by being free and entirely user-driven.