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

[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] FEEDBACK - Proposed Amendment 3 to the .COM Registry Agreement
by Linda Bester Feb. 11, 2020

Feb. 11, 2020

I am writing to voice my opposition to Proposed Amendment 3. While price hikes such as this won’t mean much to larger businesses, it will impact terribly on millions of individuals, families and small businesses that rely on .com affordability. It is merely an assumption that .com addresses are purely business-related addresses. This requirement was not defined and enforced during the advent of the internet, and applying it retrospectively is completely unreasonable. A huge number of people, who gain absolutely no profit from these domains, will have to forego their amazing websites that they’ve poured their heart and soul into, and the internet will be devoid of these richly diverse and interesting websites, causing the focus to turn more towards big business contributions instead. I am mother of two and an author, and I have personally set aside quite a number of Domains to cover: - various business ideas; - hobbies I would like to make websites about; and- my children, for when they are old enough and want to use their own personalised address. I can only just afford to pay the yearly amount for all of these as it is. I do not make a cent off any of these, as they are all parked. If the prices were to increase much more, I would have to forego a lot of these. I am aware that the 7% is a maximum per year for each of the four years and, theoretically, there may be no increase - or a sub 7% increase some years - however, I have little faith that this will be the norm and I most certainly cannot plan on it being any less than the full 7%.The only way this might work is if price increases are not applied to individuals, and also if they are applied to businesses according to their financial earnings. It would be ideal if a more nominal amount could be introduced for Domain Name parking. The web, and global DNS, were envisioned to be run for the public good, and they SHOULD be run for the public good. Deals such as this are an abdication of that mandate; short sighted profit chasing at the expense of all else. Please do not adopt this proposal, but rather find an alternative option that does not hurt individuals, families, and small businesses on many levels, including financially. Regards, Linda Bester

1 0

[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] I oppose the verisign for-profit agreement.
by Kristian Hareland Feb. 11, 2020

Feb. 11, 2020

When suggesting such a change, it is purely for the profit of verisign, not for the good of the users of the internet. There are no clear vision for how the payment icann will receive will be used, you receive $20million, and it’s a bribe. The general access to domain names should not be limited by allowing the increase of prices to reach up to 70% more than it is today. The internet is for everyone, and infrastructure costs are only dropping. Don’t corrupt the internet. Do not accept what most people will see as a bribe. I hereby oppose this, as a user of the internet. This is not a for profit, so don’t sell yourself out and loose all credibility over sum you can easily raise by other means. Kind regards Kristian Hareland T: +47 45 86 56 86

1 0

[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] Justification?
by Jim VanPeursem Feb. 11, 2020

Feb. 11, 2020

I learned of your intent to increase .com pricing, without any public input. I used to believe ICANN was a trustworthy entity, watching out for the greater good of the internet and its users, but this opaque decision making with commercial partners does not bode well for your reputation. I would ask that you reconsider your plan to raise .com prices and instead open up the plan for review and public comment, seeking inputs from all sides, before moving forward. Regards, ->jvp -- ______________________________ Jim VanPeursem, PhD us: +1 847 414 2759 (+ WhatsApp) -- skype: jimvanpeursem “Let my heart be broken by the things that break the heart of God.” -- Bob Pierce

1 0

[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] (no subject)
by Jen Feb. 11, 2020

Feb. 11, 2020

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. Verisign reported a 69.4% operating margin in Q1 2019, so they clearly do not need the extra revenue from this price hike. ICANN has granted a monopoly over .com to Verisign and ICANN has a duty to every internet user on the planet to carefully regulate this monopoly to prevent abuse by Verisign. The only conscionable thing to do right now is to freeze wholesale .com prices and re-evaluate 5-10 years from now. A policy that allows price increases tracking the rate of inflation (but no higher) may make sense in the future, but right now Verisign is already collecting far more from their .com monopoly than any company would be able to in a competitive market [1]. It's simply not right to allow them to raise prices at this time. -Jen [1] For example, Alphabet, a highly successful player in a very high-margin industry, has an operating margin of around 25%. Verisign's operating margin is more than 2.75 times that.

1 0

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

Feb. 11, 2020

Greetings, I am a registrant of a .com domain name. I am against the proposed price increase to .COM domains. ICANN is supposed to govern the domain name system in the public interest. Easy and low cost registration is essential for innovation and entrepreneurship. Please keep the domain registration process as low cost as possible. It’s important. Regards, Tembi Secrist Tukwila, Washington United States Tembi Secrist +1-206-963-2509 Sent from my iPhone

1 0

[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] I disagree with this proposal
by Rob Phillips Feb. 11, 2020

Feb. 11, 2020

In simple terms, I strongly disagree with this proposal. If it passes, I will make it a point to buy domains other than .com, especially since you've all failed to create an equitable marketplace for domain names by allowing and encouraging domain squatting. I feel that this is a last-chance land grab for more money before other TLDs make .com even less viable, and your actions behind closed doors are both shady and unacceptable. Regards, Rob Phillips

1 0

[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] proposed .com price increase
by jamie hill Feb. 11, 2020

Feb. 11, 2020

Hi! What's going on with these proposed .com price increases? Negotiating this stuff behind closed doors, and having so little transparency about what the additional revenues are going to be used for, doesn't seem like the right way to go about this. If what you're doing is a handout, that's not cool. If it's something above-board that you honestly believe in, then do it out in the open. Thanks! -- jamie hill produce / mix / master https://deptofenergymgmt.com/work --

1 0

[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] AMENDMENT 3 comment
by Chaitanya Musham Feb. 11, 2020

Feb. 11, 2020

Hello I as an avid technology as well as medical professional, would like to request you to not increase the prices. Kindly let consumers benefit. Thank you Chaitanya Musham MD

1 0

[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] Please do not increase prices for .COM domains
by Paul Haymon Feb. 11, 2020

Feb. 11, 2020

Dear ICANN, I was disappointed to hear that you intend to increase prices for .COM domains. I would like to request that you do not continue with this decision, as it will make it more difficult for many domain owners to afford their domains. Please reconsider your decision. Thank you. Sincerely, Paul Haymon

1 0

[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] Proposed Amendment 3 to the .COM Registry Agreement
by Blair at Neolith Feb. 11, 2020

Feb. 11, 2020

Please for the love of God, don't raise prices on TLD's like .com. As a small business owner it's already difficult enough to cover taxes, overhead, hosting, and software costs. Running multiple sites is getting more expensive every year and this can have a significant impact in a relatively short amount of time to my bottom line. Signed, Blair Wolf -- *Neolith Graphics Logo <https://ngprint.com>* *Blair Wolf* Administrator Neolith Graphics <https://ngprint.com> Blair(a)NGprint.com <mailto:Blair@ngprint.com> 2981 K St. San Diego, CA 92102 USA Direct: *+1 (702) 624-0498* Office: *+1 (702) 546-8338* skype: *blair_wolf* Blair on Twitter <https://twitter.com/Blair_Wolf>Blair on Linked in <https://www.linkedin.com/in/blairwolf> /"if it holds an image, we produce it"/

1 0