February 2020 - comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20@icann.org

[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] NO to verisign price increases
by Christopher Grotke Feb. 11, 2020

Feb. 11, 2020

Hi ICANN, I'm writing to you to express my opposition to Amendment #3 of the .COM registry agreement. As you can see from my signature below, we've been designing and building we sites for over 22 years. One of the reasons that the web has grown and become so valuable, in my view, is that is affordable. Allowing verisign to increase rates annually for several years will be terrible. Fewer people will renew or buy new domains. We already hear many complaints about the excessive cost of domains as they are priced now. Increasing the cost will not help. There's really no good reason to jack up rates as proposed. I would expect ICANN to be working to keep costs down, so as many people as possible can afford domains. I'm also against verisign being able to sell domains. As written, this seems like unfair competition. Count me in the NO to Amendment 3 column. Thanks, c. ps. You will count this as a NO, won't you? I have to trust that this won't be ignored. -- Christopher Grotke MuseArts Web Design - 22 Years! www.musearts.com 802-348-6802 creators of iBrattleboro.com

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[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] ICANN Contract Changes
by Mike Lendvay Feb. 11, 2020

Feb. 11, 2020

After learning about the proposed changes, vi would like to voice my concern. These changes are likely to hurt small to medium businesses currently tied to .com domains. I also believe this would devalue the use of .com domains, and push businesses to other top level domains. I hope you will reconsider what could be a profoundly damaging change.

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[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] Fw: Help Us Prevent .COM Price Increases
by Mister Spruce Feb. 11, 2020

Feb. 11, 2020

Hello, I'm lending my voice to the push against significantly increasing .com domain costs. This increase would cause accessibility issues for individuals and small businesses just starting out. It would also place an extra cost on SEO because Google seems to give more credence to .com domains. Cheers, Robin ----- Forwarded message ----- From: Namecheap <support(a)namecheap.com>To: Robin Uzo <arsenalpundit(a)yahoo.co.uk>Sent: Monday, 10 February 2020, 14:08:22 GMT-7Subject: Help Us Prevent .COM Price Increases We have important information to share with you that will affect the price of your .COM domains. ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ | | | View in browser | | | | | | Help Us Avoid .COM Price Increases Hi there! We have important information to share with you that will affect the price of your .COM domains. What's happening? Last month, ICANN, the organization that oversees domain names, announced significant changes to the contract it has with Verisign, Inc. who operate the .COM top-level-domain (TLD). ICANN made these changes in secret, without consulting or incorporating feedback from the ICANN community or Internet users. Although ICANN has a history of making similar deals behind closed doors, and also of ignoring unified opposition against such action, we are focused on leading the fight against price increases that will harm our customers (and the Internet as a whole). This is a crucial time to raise our voices given that .COM domains make up 40% of all registered domain names online. What does this change mean? Wholesale registries charge Namecheap a set fee per domain name per year. According to this new agreement, Verisign will be allowed to increase the wholesale price to registrars for .COM domains every year for 8 out of the next 10 years, and the increases don’t stop there. This will mean that .COM wholesale domain prices can grow by more than 70% over and above current prices over the next decade. The contract also allows for other price increases, which could drive prices up further, ultimately making .COM domains less accessible and more expensive for everybody. Why is ICANN doing this? Alongside these contract changes, Verisign agreed to pay ICANN an additional $20 million dollars over five years to support ICANN's domain name system initiatives, without any clarity about how ICANN will spend the money, or who will ensure that the funds are properly spent on domain infrastructure. So, what can you do to help? These changes will have significant impact on the Internet for years to come, and only ICANN and Verisign have participated in this decision. If you want to make sure your voice is heard, let ICANN know how you feel about their recent decision. The Public Comment period is open until February 14, 2020. You can leave your comment on the .COM proposal using ICANN's form. | Find Out More | | | | | 4600 East Washington Street, Suite 305, Phoenix, AZ 85034, USA Copyright © 2020 Namecheap.com | | We are an ICANN accredited registrar. Serving customers since 2001. | | |

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[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] .COM wholesale domain price increase agreement
by Trevor Sheatz Feb. 11, 2020

Feb. 11, 2020

I am very against this recent decision. Please consider reverting this proposal.

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[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] Proposed Amendment 3 to the .COM Registry Agreement
by Ben Ruffman-Cohen Feb. 11, 2020

Feb. 11, 2020

I am a registrant of a .com domain name. I am against the proposed price increase to .com domains. Verisign is merely manager of the .com registry and has no business dictating price. The current rate of $7.85 is far more than justified. ICANN is supposed to govern the domain name system in the public interest. This proposed price increase is clearly in the best interest of Verisign and it’s shareholders but offers no benefit to the public and may actually restrict representation of the global internet community. Thank you. Sincerely, Ben Ruffman-Cohen -- Ben Ruffman-Cohen benrc.com

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[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] This is ridiculous!
by Michael Harris Feb. 11, 2020

Feb. 11, 2020

Hello, I have recently read about the agreement between ICANN & Verisign regarding the "allowed" price increases for the .COM registries. As a small business owner who runs several websites this cost increase can be VERY detrimental to my bottom line. As a small business, I have to watch every dollar I spend. These increases may cause me to have to choose between my sites and cut into what profit I'm currently making along with future revenues. Please take into consideration that there are many small business people who rely on their income from their websites and need every advantage we can get. Regards,Michael J Harris

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[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] Please don't raise the rates for .coms
by Prism Studios Feb. 11, 2020

Feb. 11, 2020

Hello, Please don't raise the rates for .coms Domains, servers and VPN’s are getting less expensive, but you are raising the rates for .coms. Please reconsider raising the rates. Regards, Paul

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[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] proposed .com price increases
by Todd Silva Feb. 11, 2020

Feb. 11, 2020

Hi, I am a registrant of several .com domain names. I do not understand the justification for any increases to .com prices. ICANN, as the overseer of domain names, isn't it your job to keep the interests of registrants, like myself, at the highest priority? Let it be noted that I am opposed to the proposed .com price increases by ICANN and Verisign. Thank you, Todd Silva Houston, TX

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[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] Please, don't increase .COM price.
by iNKS TV Feb. 11, 2020

Feb. 11, 2020

It's sad thing to learn of this increase as it of course has a negative impact on us end users. It's even hard enough to keep up renewal with the current pricing system, let alone when it's increased. Please consider don't increase the price of .COM. Thanks.

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[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] regarding Amendment 3 to the .COM Registry Agreement
by Karthik Karuppannan Feb. 11, 2020

Feb. 11, 2020

Dear ICANN, Internet is a true enabler of democracy and increasingly becoming a tool that helps poor people to bridge the gap with rich. We trust you to be the guardian and safe guard this precious thingie called 'Internet', not just for now but future too. Please do the right thing and fall for pressures from vested commercial interests. I oppose Amendment 3 to the .COM Registry Agreement. I believe that allowing wholesale prices for .com domains to rise 72% over 12 years, which is far more than the rate of inflation and also far more than Verisign's underlying costs of maintaining the registry could possibly increase by, will dramatically hurt the internet ecosystem. It will especially hurt small website operators, like myself, and will discourage internet users from creating blogs and personal pages, with the end result of reducing democratization of the internet. regards, Karthik Karuppannan.

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