- 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

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[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

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[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

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[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.

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[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

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[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

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[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 --

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[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

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[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

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[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"/

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[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] Don't allow such large price increases for .com domains
by Todd Wolfson Feb. 11, 2020

Feb. 11, 2020

Hey ICANN, When I was in college, many many years ago, I was able to buy a domain at a price that was affordable for a college student. WIth the proposed price changes, I'm not sure that this will be sustainable practice. e.g. Inflation has more/less been 2% historically. The proposed price increase is 5% on top of that (i.e. 7% total). This means in 60 years, we'd be 18.7x the inflated current price of $10 (1.05^30 ~= 18.7x). This means a college student would have to commit $187/year to buy a domain. That's ridiculous and will restrict the freedom and creativity of the internet. Please consider reducing such a large price increase rate. - Todd

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

Feb. 11, 2020

Put your stuff together - GoDaddy is already charging 16GBP per year for a .com domain. A raise in the prices would lead to lower sales and less money for all the registrars. I've used to maintain 15 .com domains at every moment for the last 10 years. Now I've cut them to 5, because the prices are already high enough. I am also against the decision of increasing .com prices.

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

Feb. 11, 2020

I would like to voice my disagreement with the proposed increases in costs for the .com domains. While major corporates may have the funds to pay for ever increasing prices to protect their branding; my self and most of my clients, are small businesses who do not have this luxury. There are no justifications for the proposed increases within the Brief apart from the price hasn't gone up since 2012. ICANNs is supposed to govern the domain name system for the public interest. What is the reasoning behind providing additional funds to a private entity? Dave Withnall

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

Feb. 11, 2020

What they are promoting is armed robbery. Please do not do this is bad for the world. -- att. Carlos Rocha

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[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] Verisign as Domain Registrar
by Evan Barr Feb. 11, 2020

Feb. 11, 2020

I strongly disagree with your plan to allow Verisign to become a domain registrar and to allow them to increase prices on .com domains. First, the majority of the management of the domain registry is automated. As a result, the cost of this management is going down. Verisign should be allowed to benefit from improvements in efficiency but any increase in the current prices amounts to gouging. Second, prohibiting Verisign from selling .com domains but not prohibiting them from acting as a reseller of .com domains through another registrar still amounts to an unfair advantage. Allowing Verisign to compete with their customers while also controlling the price of the product gives them an unfair advantage. As the owner of multiple domains going back to 1998, I recognize that this change could result in a short-term reduction in renewal fees. But as other registrars get knocked out of the market, there is nothing to keep the prices down and less reason for any registrar to innovate. It is not true that .com will be affected by competition from other TLDs. Not owning the .com version of your business name means being OK with phishing attacks against your customers. In many markets, customers expect and assume that your domain is a .com. Also, the marketing cost of changing your domain name tends to be prohibitively large. Please do not go forward with this plan to allow Verisign to increase .com prices or to become a domain registrar. Evan Barr CTO: Project InVision (ebarr(a)projectinvision.com, ebarr(a)wellcycle.com) CTO: Brooklyn Minds (evan.barr(a)brooklynminds.com)

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[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] Please, don't change the prices
by Alfredo Carrion Vermiglio Feb. 11, 2020

Feb. 11, 2020

Doing so will damage a lot of internet users who want to make their own webpages. The prices of .com domains are ok as they are now. Lots of webpages with .com domains still have a very thin profit (sometimes no profit at all) and increasing the prices will affect not only the webmasters, but also the readers and users who will most probably see those pages and information gone from the Internet. Please, you know you really don't need to raise the prices so much. Alfredo Carrion

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[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] ICANN fees
by Rachel Feb. 11, 2020

Feb. 11, 2020

Please do not allow Verisign to increase the wholesale price to registrars for .COM domains every year for 8 out of the next 10 years. Such increases would make domain ownership less accessible for small businesses and independent retailers. Less accessibility would make the internet less diverse, diminishing its usefulness for everyone. Keep price caps in place. Sincerely, Rachel Rein California, USA

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[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] Keep Fees Low for Individuals & Small Companies
by Alison Bongiorno Feb. 11, 2020

Feb. 11, 2020

To whom it may concern, I’m just an art teacher, and my domain name helps my students access a portfolio of work, and it helps me make connections in the field of education. Also, my husband is a small business owner, and employs twelve people, currently. Small rate increases hurt small companies, too! Individuals and small companies can’t afford rate increases for a domain name, the way in which a larger company might be able. It may seem like a little thing, but all the little things add up, and take away consumer control. Please prevent the rise in fees to .com sites like mine and my husband’s. Thank you for your time, Alison

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[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] I do not support the changes.
by Saad Mirza Feb. 11, 2020

Feb. 11, 2020

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[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] Please stop raise the fee!
by zxdong＠gmail.com Feb. 11, 2020

Feb. 11, 2020

I have dropped all my other domain names for my apps, due to more expensive domain fee, hope I would not get another hit on my only .com domain. Sent from Mail for Windows 10

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

Feb. 11, 2020

I believe there should be transparent price increases and caps for .com addresses.

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[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] Against
by Tri Nguyen, Brian Feb. 11, 2020

Feb. 11, 2020

I am against the proposed price increase to .COM domains. Thanks, Brian.

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[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] .com increasing fees
by Donna Chang Feb. 11, 2020

Feb. 11, 2020

To whom it may concern, We are small business owners and having the website fees increase would be a huge burden for us. Please don't increase it. Ju-Han Chang

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[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] Please avoid Proposed Amendment 3
by Manjunath Hegde Feb. 11, 2020

Feb. 11, 2020

Sir, Kindly avoid Proposed Amendment 3, most of us offer free service through these internet. Sincerely

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[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] No price increases for .COM domains
by John Kane Feb. 11, 2020

Feb. 11, 2020

Please reverse any decisions that will lead to .com price increases. Normal citizens will be forced out if domain ownership and corralled into the arms of big business. Please keep the internet a public good by keeping domain prices down. Thank you John Kane Gatineau Canada

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