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

[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] Impact on small business
by Abhi Singh Feb. 10, 2020

Feb. 10, 2020

I understand your desire to increase the fee but please don't underestimate the downstream impact of this decision. COM domain is used by several small businesses like ours who are struggling to keep up the pace due already discouraging federal policies that favor big businesses. This will be one more item that will make us less competitive. I urge you to please reconsider your decision. Regards, abhi singh Cloudigility.com

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[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] I am against Proposed Amendment 3 to the .COM Registry Agreement because I believe it will permit and indeed lead to price increases for .COM domain registration, without commensurate benefits to customers like me.
by Robert Wiblin Feb. 10, 2020

Feb. 10, 2020

Dear ICANN, I am against Proposed Amendment 3 to the .COM Registry Agreement because I believe it will permit and indeed lead to price increases for .COM domain registration, without commensurate benefits to customers like me. All the best, Rob -- Robert Wiblin robertwiblin(a)gmail.com | +447923221354 | Skype: robertwiblin Director of Research | 80,000 Hours | 80000Hours.org

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[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] Small Business Destruction
by E K Feb. 10, 2020

Feb. 10, 2020

Dear ICANN, These unbridled increases to .com domains hurt small businesses that have established online presence and stifle growth. Please do not not raise .com prices. Sincerely, Eric Knox

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[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] Opinion about the new deal.
by Ruptic MC Feb. 10, 2020

Feb. 10, 2020

Hello! My name is Troy and I am the owner of RupticMC (RupticMC.com) I do not get a lot of donations, but enough to keep my servers and service in general running with very little profit and room to grow except for the times the donations exceed my expectations which is rarely. If the prices of .com domains, or domains in general are even higher than they are now, it's going to be even more tough to stay up and running. It will even make it harder for me to grow my business and/or community. If it's possible to keep prices the way that they are, I will be greatful that you all have listened. Thank you very much. - Troy from RupticMC.com

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[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] Propuesta.com
by emma Feb. 10, 2020

Feb. 10, 2020

Buenas noches, Acabo de leer vuestro correo. Me parecen un completo desatino estás propuestas que, como siempre, acabará perjudicando al usuario final.

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[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] More specific information and more transparent process needed
by CJ O'Reilly Feb. 10, 2020

Feb. 10, 2020

To whom it may concern, I am deeply concerned by the potential for the amendment to balloon pricing in an unreasonable way. I recognize the need for infrastructure and the importance of this service, but I am very concerned about the accountability and scope of the proposed changes. I would like to see more specificity and continued process for price increases, rather that creating space for ballooning. The internet is an important resource for freedom of information and speech, and economic concerns like even the modest price of a domain can be a significant impediment to people whose voices are often least heard. Furthermore, capitalization and monetization of the foundation of this information resource is a significant liability to the culture of internet and frankly, humanity, considering the globalized network we exist in. Leveraging this resource as a tool for profit would be a disservice to the stewardship of it and could very easily be a slippery slope. Please consider these factors and creating more systems for accountability and review before decisions are made that may impact the accessibility of domain names and the fabric of the internet. Thank you, CJ

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[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] .com??
by Will McLellarn Feb. 10, 2020

Feb. 10, 2020

This seems incredibly unfair to sell .coms for so much more. No one should profit off open source tech. Verisign?? Come on. Leave open source open! No 20mm kickbacks, it’s absolutely bogus

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[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] (no subject)
by William Phillips Feb. 10, 2020

Feb. 10, 2020

The proposed changes, which seem to be getting through purely because of a bribe from VeriSign to provide additional funding to ICANN is shocking and I have absolutely no clue how it isn't even under governmental review. .com powers the internet, it doesn't matter who you are, a student, a shop assistant or millionaire, we all share the same domain LTD for any website. Permitting increases of the wholesale price will end up having a much more of an impact on those who purchase from those sellers, making the internet a more expensive and restrictive place to host content on.

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[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] (no subject)
by David Suggitt Feb. 10, 2020

Feb. 10, 2020

Don't be greedy David

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[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] (no subject)
by J Chapel Feb. 10, 2020

Feb. 10, 2020

ICANN and Verisign made these changes in secret, without consulting or incorporating feedback from the ICANN community or Internet users. ICANN has a history of making similar deals behind closed doors and also of ignoring unified opposition against such actions. The changes to the .COM agreement will have a much bigger impact on the Internet than the previous action for .ORG, .INFO, and .BIZ domains, due to the dominance of .COM. There are 359.8 million total domain names, of which 144 million are .COM — that’s 40% of all domain names. With 161.8 million country-specific TLDs (ccTLDs), there are 198 million generic TLDs (gTLDs). That means that .COM makes up 73% of all gTLD domain names. ICANN was created in part to introduce competition between domain name registrars, but now ICANN itself is at the heart of the problem, without considering any input from Internet users on these critical decisions. At issue: Price increases of 7% each year in 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023. Then continuing in 2026, 2027, 2028, and 2029. ICANN receives and extra $20 million from Verisign. No reasons why this happened. ICANN also had rules that the operator of a TLD could not operate a domain name registrar. Although in 2012 ICANN allowed operators of new gTLDs to have domain name registrars, it did not apply to Verisign. The new contract will allow Verisign to operate its own registrar, except for selling .COM domain names itself. To circumvent this, it is also possible that Verisign could act as a reseller of .COM domains, through another registrar. This result is that the company that controls almost 80% of the registrar pricing for domain names will compete directly with all domain registrars, maximizing its control of domain name pricing to the detriment of other competing registrars. ICANN Ignored Previous Comments - As detailed on Standing Up to ICANN to Keep Domain Prices in Check and pricecaps.org, over 3,500 comments were submitted in support of price controls for the .ORG, .INFO, and .BIZ TLDs. Only six comments supported removing price controls. ICANN discounted the comments that were in favor of maintaining price caps. A number of the comments were submitted using an online tool, which caused the comments to be discounted as “spam” by the ICANN Ombudsman. ICANN removed the price caps, primarily relying upon a biased preliminary analysis from 2009 by an economics professor that did not reference any data. This cannot stand. I have several .com domains and cannot afford 7% increases every year.

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