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

[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] Proposed Amendment 3 to the .COM Registry Agreement
by Gökhan Varan Feb. 14, 2020

Feb. 14, 2020

I am a registrant of a .com domain name. I am against the proposed price increase to .COM domains. No one other than Verisign want increases in .COM prices. The current rate of $7.85 is already far more than justified. Verisign is merely your manager of the .COM Registry – it has no business dictating the price. ICANN is supposed to govern the domain name system in the public interest. Gokhan Varan Ankara, Ankara Turkey Saygılarımla, Mobile: +1 202 299 46 61 Washington, DC gokhanvaran.com.tr

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[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] Afnic position on Proposed Ammendment 3
by Pierre Bonis Feb. 14, 2020

Feb. 14, 2020

Afnic, as the .fr registry and as a CCNSO member, but also as a technical backend registry for various new GTLDs has no particular position on the wholesale price for the .COM We would only wish to remind ICANN of the dominant position of .COM in the world domain name market, and urge ICANN to refer to the best experts of anti-trust and competition to make sure that an increase of the .COM prices, as well as a strong decrease if it could happen ever, have no anti-competition effects on the market. Recognizing that ICANN is not a price regulator, and as a member of the ICANN community, we would just like to make sure that no negative impact on ICANN reputation could affect us collectively in consequence of this amendment. On the "binding LoI", and referring to the DNS Security part of the amendment, Afnic is of the opinion that this part has no place in such a document and is even dangerous for the ICANN community. First, referring to the ICANN text : "Under the LOI, Verisign and ICANN agree to work in good faith with the ICANN community and within ICANN processes to develop best practices for ICANN's contracted parties that can be used to create potential new contractual obligations, tools, methods and metrics to help measure and mitigate DNS security threats." That LoI puts Verisign, a respected member of the ICANN community, in a position that is outside the ICANN community. The fact that the Verisign's action is described as being implemented "within ICANN process" doesn't change this strange way of designating Verisign as an organisation not part of the ICANN community. Jointly with ICANN as an organisation, and not from the ICANN community where it belongs, Verisign would then develop best practices that could be applied to ICANN interested parties, not with them, but for them. The worst part being that these best practices developed, not by and within the ICANN community as it is the rule that bind us, but from a third party, could become new contractual obligations. Afnic doesn't understand the rational of such a presentation. We are of the opinion that there is no need to point out at a particular stakeholder to give him a special responsibility in the policy development process, even if the topic (the security) is of paramount importance. Inside the ICANN community, a lot of expertise ( including Verisign's one) is already existing, and comes from all ICANN stakeholders. The reference to the binding LoI in the .COM resigtry Agreement seems therefore difficult to accept for Afnic, is the Loi itself is not strongly rephrased On Verisign's funding to support ICANN Activities, Afnic supports and encourage any donation from Verisign to ICANN, and welcomes this substantial help given by Verisign as a company, and not by the .com as a TLD. Therefore, one can only applaud this gesture in favour of the core mission of ICANN, because it comes with no specific conditions regarding the .com agreement itself, and therefore should not be mentioned, directly or indirectly through the reference made to the LOI. Best regards, Pierre BONIS AFNIC CEO

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[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] Dot com Domains
by jo jose Feb. 14, 2020

Feb. 14, 2020

Sir or Mam, I am appalled and saddened at the decision by ICANN to raise the prices and cost of .COM domains. ICANN’s scrupulous behavior and agreement with Verisign undermines and hurts all customers and businesses present and future who utilize and support .com domains. I am asking ICANN to stop this action and do right for all users and supporters of .COM domains by not coming into agreement with Verisign and increasing prices. Sincerely, Josephine Bednar

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[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] Verisign
by Grogan, Susan Feb. 14, 2020

Feb. 14, 2020

Friday, February 14, 2020 The Honorable Senator Elizabeth Warren, Senate Office Building, Washington DC 20510 The Honorable Senator Amy Klobuchar, Senate Office Building, Washington DC 20510 The Honorable Representative Steny Hoyer, 1705 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515 The Honorable Representative Nancy Pelosi, 1705 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515 Bureau of Consumer Protection, FTC Bureau of Competition, FTC ICANN Re: https://www.icann.org/public-comments/com-amendment-3-2020-01-03-en To whom it may concern: A few days ago, I was contacted by my domain name registrar advising that Verisign was asking for pricing increases (about 30%) that would substantially increase the cost of holding the small portfolio of domain names I own (10-20). I think everyone should own a few because ownership of the internet, its value, should derive from users, mainly the people (real people, not corporations doing business as persons for purposes of business law). I am not looking to flip mine for a profit. I have no websites up. The only websites I have put online were for teaching and research purposes, paid for out of my personal income. It is expensive enough merely to put up, protect, and maintain a website. To reach an audience requires a campaign war chest to pay for social media and search engine advertising. I, like most Americans, am not wealthy nor a fundraiser. The cost of owning a few domain names is not a cost of doing business for me since I don't own one or have any plans in that direction. The internet should be first and foremost a resource that enhances public speech, the internet should belong to the people. But, so that the internet remains open and free, I understand we must rely on both private and government, or quasi-governmental agencies to manage necessary infrastructure. Unfortunately, it seems that the internet is plagued with potholes, worse than our highways. Until I was contacted by my registrar 2 days ago, I had never heard of Verisign and was only vaguely familiar with ICANN. I recall paying ICANN fees to my registrar that are very low. What I did not know is that a substantial part of the substantial annual cost paid to my registrar just to own them, whether I do anything with them or not, goes to Verisign. Amendment 3 will increase those costs dramatically and also change the structure of the internet to increase the monopoly Verisign holds over the internet. Verisign already has no competitors, already is a monopoly contractually. On the other hand, there are very many domains and domain registries. These compete on price; but, from what I can see, are highly constrained in doing so because all of them must pass on considerable fixed (Verisign) fees to consumers and other owners of domain names. Verisign is publicly traded and has outperformed all stock markets substantially. Most public comments are going to complain that Verisign already makes too much money and has not specified why they need to make more. That's easy to predict because that's pretty much all the public knows and has been told. The only reason Verisign gives to demonstrate the need, is a generalized, vague statement about the need to safeguard internet security. I would think that if they had specific plans for improvements to what they already do--since protecting the internet essentially is also Verisign's mission statement--they would have a specific budget and that they would be pitching these plans through the roof because they are publicly traded--it's both in their interest to disclose and required by accounting standards and the SEC. Verisign has already bullied the same for .org and other domain types. Thousands of public comments objected. Only a few voiced in favor, which implies almost all those who would personally profit from these price increases did not even bother to submit a letter voicing their approval. Why? Because like the present case, the old public comment process was merely an excuse going through the motions, not a serious solicitation and consideration of public comments. I am told the public comments against were all dismissed as "spam" for the earlier case. I think there was a little more to it. The usual reason most public comments against are dismissed is that they do not rise to the technical and legal standards necessary to require explanation and/or reconsideration. You have to be an expert in the field or a lawyer to submit comments that matter these days, especially in this case of a high-tech company that acts in the background of the internet, in the shadows of our lives. The only comments likely to stop this process, or most any other process from Keystone to health and safety regulations are lawsuits or credible threats to sue submitted in comments in the absence of sincere federal, indeed international, regulation and oversight. I don't see that happening. We don't have a public union. Registrars are not well organized. And, I doubt anyone could recover the substantial legal fees. ICANN is supposed to regulate Verisign but seems to be surrendering their responsibilities. Verisign gave ICANN a considerable sum of money to make these changes happen. This, I presume, was to pay ICANN's costs but the amount seems more like paying for all of ICANN's bonuses and new corporate memberships at Mar-A-Lago. As a monopoly, Verisign minimizes risk by definition. In a free market, stock values are supposed to reflect risk. High tech firms generally earn more because they face the added risk of the technology itself. The internet has been around for Verisigdecades now. I don't see there being all that much risk to the internet failing. Verisign's only risk has been and is keeping the internet secure but in a very limited way. What[ <#_msocom_1>do they plan to do different? Build a Wall around the internet? Overall, I don't judge the internet a safe place. I don't believe and Verisign has not convinced me as a member of the public that the internet is going to be safer if Verisign gets these price increases. Verisign has extremely (abnormally) high operating profits and net incomes. I am not going to go into those specifics because I am objecting to the process itself. The public has not been given adequate knowledge or time to make credible objections. Essentially, *the Amendment 3 public comment process is fraudulent*. There is reason to suspect ICANN has been paid off and will not see to the public interest. We have been given no reason to justify the price increases. They know the public can only object to the price increase itself and that objecting to price increases will be easily dismissed by free market reasoning. The problem is that the public, average folks, have no other place to go. They used to say the crooks were in the banks because that's where the money is. Today, the crooks seem to camp out in Verisign and ICANN. I ask that the price increase be denied due to unfair process according to principles of the free market, free internet, and free speech. ICANN should require and publish a detailed review explaining what they want to do that requires this price increase and what they want to achieve by it besides jacking up their stock price before the next heist. The US Department of Commerce should have gotten off its soup can and seen that it was so instead of conspiring with Verisign and ICANN to further usurp the internet. Since I do not think public comments are being solicited with sincere intents, I am forwarding my own to above members asking Congress to hold hearings on the past and present process by which these price increases and encroachment on our freedoms have been conducted by US Department of Commerce, Verisign, and ICANN. That’s the only way the public is going to have the information necessary to judge and comment. Thank you for your consideration and assistance, Dr. Susan Grogan Professor of Political Science St. Mary's College of Maryland St. Mary's City, MD 20686 ------------------------------ [SG1] <#_msoanchor_1>

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[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] I'm not renewing my websites if you raise your prices.
by J. Gray Dingler Feb. 14, 2020

Feb. 14, 2020

I have a few domain names I pay to keep in anticpiation for future projects and I doubt I’m the only one. You’re gonna lose more money than you’ll make hassling people for extra pennies on something we don’t strictly need. At very least, you’ll lose my business. -Jay

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[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] Strongly against
by R. Weatherby Feb. 14, 2020

Feb. 14, 2020

How is the price increase in the public good? How will regular internet users benefit? What is ICANN receiving in exchange for the $20mil payment from Verisign? I'm strongly against this price increase proposal, it disproportionately hurts everyday non-business, or small business users who want to keep a domain or two going for themselves.

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[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] Disagree on .COM price increase
by Marina del Rey Boat Parade Feb. 14, 2020

Feb. 14, 2020

Without any clarity about how ICANN will spend the money, they shouldn't increase the price. And domain registration is just domain name, we need to get web hosting to activate the domain, which is more than domain registration. My web hosting company just increased $5 per month, that will be so much already, and I will need to look for a better price web hosting company. Some people (businesses) can afford increased price, but some people (businesses) can't. I'm against of increasing the price! Hope ICANN hear our voice. *YAYOI*

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[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] Proposed Amendment 3 to the .COM Registry Agreement
by William Komskis Feb. 14, 2020

Feb. 14, 2020

I am a registrant of a .com domain name. I am against the proposed price increase to .COM domains. The current rate of $7.85 is already far more than justified. ICANN is supposed to govern the domain name system in the public interest. Vilius Komskis Freehold Township, New Jersey United States

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[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] (no subject)
by Shaheryar Khan Feb. 14, 2020

Feb. 14, 2020

We are strongly against this increase in price of .COM domain. Since i own a domain .com domain which already costs me around 16$ USD per year. And if this price increases then it will be very difficult for me to continue ownership of my domain. Im strongly against this decision of increase in price.

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[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] (no subject)
by jason lavergne Feb. 14, 2020

Feb. 14, 2020

I am a registrant of a .com domain name. No one other than Verisign want increases in .COM prices. The current rate of $12.00 CAN is already far more than justified.

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[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] I disagree with all changes that suggested
by Tracie McCants Feb. 14, 2020

Feb. 14, 2020

These changes aren't in the best interest of current clients who have invested on long term service. Tracie Harrison Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android

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[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] hold the line on prices
by Marc White, GM [SVR] Feb. 14, 2020

Feb. 14, 2020

Hi there - we do a lot of business on the web, and have a non-profit. Please hold the line on prices to help folks like us. Thanks. Marc White Central FL USA

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[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] Comments of Leap of Faith Financial Services Inc. Opposing Proposed Amendment 3 to the .COM Registry Agreement
by George Kirikos Feb. 14, 2020

Feb. 14, 2020

Submitted by: George Kirikos Company: Leap of Faith Financial Services Inc. Website: http://www.leap.com/ Date: February 14, 2020 We write to oppose the Proposed Amendment 3 to the .COM Registry Agreement, as posted by ICANN at: https://www.icann.org/public-comments/com-amendment-3-2020-01-03-en 1. As a preliminary matter, we note with approval and fully support Reconsideration Request 19-2 filed by Namecheap, Inc. regarding the .org contract renewal: https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/reconsideration-19-2-namecheap-reques… https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/reconsideration-19-2-namecheap-… where Namecheap wrote: "The ICANN org will decide whether to accept or reject public comment, and will unliterally (sic) make its own decisions- even if that ignores the public benefit or almost unanimous feedback to the contrary, and is based upon conclusory statements not supported by evidence. This shows that the public comment process is basically a sham, and that ICANN org will do as it pleases in this and other matters. It is a concern not only for the renewal of the .org and other legacy TLD registry agreements being renewed in 2019, but an even greater concern for the upcoming renewal of the .com registry agreement- as well as other vital policy issues under consideration by ICANN now and in the future." [p. 12] These are strong but thoughtful words from a highly respected company in the domain industry, whose views are shared by many, including those who've already submitted comments in this current period and who've explicitly noted ICANN's history of ignoring the public, e.g. a) Arif Ali of Dechert LLP: https://mm.icann.org/pipermail/comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20/attachments… "ICANN’s apparent disregard for public comments violates both its Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws." (footnote 4, page 2) and b) Zak Muscovitch of the Internet Commerce Association: https://mm.icann.org/pipermail/comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20/2020q1/0000… "We trust that you can appreciated (sic) that your request for Public Comments must be viewed with considerable skepticism considering that the last time that you requested feedback from the public on an amendment to a registry agreement, public comment resulted in exactly zero changes to the .org Registry Agreement despite near universal opposition and condemnation from stakeholders. Your failure to pay more than lip service to the multi-stakeholder model resulted in what is now widely considered to be the ".Org Fiasco". This has called into question whether ICANN is actually capable of representing the public interest." One of the synonyms for the word sham is fraud, and it’s apparent now that a fraud has been perpetrated on the public, namely ICANN deceiving the public into believing that these comment periods are legitimate opportunities for meaningful input. NameCheap's reconsideration request wasn’t strictly limited to the .org renewal, but directly called into question the legitimacy of all of ICANN’s public comment periods for all of the policy issues now and in the future. ICANN should not take their reconsideration request lightly, but should instead call for a full public investigation with full opportunity for the ICANN community to weigh in on this procedural matter which is at the core of ICANN itself. Until such an investigation has concluded, we call on ICANN to suspend all public comments periods, in order to ensure the process integrity of all policymaking. Of course, given ICANN’s comment process is a sham, this comment itself will likely be ignored, but we place it on the public record for posterity so that a higher authority will eventually hold ICANN accountable. Our remaining comments are thus made “in protest” given that the process itself is currently a sham, but we place them again on the record so that fair-minded members of the public can later scrutinize ICANN’s processes, and hold them accountable. 2. We support and endorse the great groundswell of opposition as expressed in the thousands of thoughtful public comments opposed to this proposed contractual amendment. https://mm.icann.org/pipermail/comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20/2020q1/date… There are over 8,700 submissions published at the time of this submission, compared with many ICANN comment periods which generate fewer than 50 submissions. 3. It should be noted that in the past ICANN trumpeted *lower* fees as one of its main achievements. For example, the testimony of ICANN General Counsel and Secretary John Jeffrey: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-109hhrg30233/html/CHRG-109hhrg3023… "STATEMENT OF JOHN JEFFREY, INTERNET CORPORATION FOR ASSIGNED NAMES AND NUMBERS (ICANN) … Among ICANN’s main achievements are the following: … Market competition. Market competition for generic top-level domain registrations established by ICANN has lowered domain name cost in some instances as much as 80 percent with savings for both consumers and businesses." It is not consistent with those past statements for ICANN to abrogate its responsibilities, and permit unjustified fee increases by registry operators. Unjustified fee increases are not in the public interest, and do not balance the needs of registrants against those of registry operators. ICANN was handed a responsibility to balance the interest of affected stakeholders when it achieved (against our wishes) independence from US government oversight, and it's now clear that it is not living up to those commitments given such one-sided contracts that have been presented here for public comment. Unjustified fee increases are not balanced, and do not promote stability of the internet or competition. ICANN is engaging in corporate welfare and/or crony capitalism through such anti-competitive proposals. 4. Under competition the fees for providing registry services (really just the management of a central database plus the operation of various nameservers) would be under USD $1.00 per domain name per year. This is evidenced by the .IN (India ccTLD) tender, http://domainincite.com/23364-afilias-sues-india-to-block-12-million-neusta… where Neustar beat Afilias with a winning bid of USD $0.70 per domain name per year (70 cents/domain/yr). A similar competitive tender process happened in France, https://www.thedomains.com/2012/08/07/afnic-awarded-new-contract-to-run-fr-… where AFNIC had to lower the wholesale fees for .FR domain names, and the contract was for 5 years. Similar competitions are held for the .US ccTLD. https://www.ntia.doc.gov/legacy/ntiahome/press/2007/Neustar_101907.html You’ll note that registry operators do not have presumptive renewal in those ccTLD contracts, yet are more than willing and able to compete effectively and make investments. It was a major policy blunder of ICANN to have agreed in the past to presumptive renewal, a decision that has had a multi-billion dollar negative impact upon registrants, compared to a situation where there are regular competitive tenders. Even the US government has argued for those competitive tenders for both initial agreements and for renewals of agreements https://www.ntia.doc.gov/files/ntia/publications/icann_081218.pdf (Ms. Garza’s analysis begins on the 3rd page of the PDF, after the covering letter by Ms. Baker of the NTIA). Verisign is currently permitted to charge a fee of USD $7.85 per domain per year, far above what it would be under a competitive tender process. This fact should be the starting point when consideration any alteration to the status quo. A good faith negotiation *must* take this fact into account, but it appears that ICANN did not at all take this into account while conducting its negotiations with Verisign. ICANN conducted no RFP or other means of gauging the ability or willingness of others to take over the .COM contract. It conducted none of its own economic studies. Those would have served the public interest, but are absent. The starting point of any good negotiation is to be aware of one's BATNA -- "best alternative to a negotiated agreement". ICANN should disclose what its BATNA was in this negotiation. This disclosure, when compared to the current proposal, will demonstrate how poorly ICANN represented the public in this negotiation. 5. ICANN claims that it is "not a price regulator and will defer to the expertise of relevant competition authorities. As such, ICANN has long-deferred to the DOC and the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) for the regulation of pricing for .COM registry services." ICANN directly references Amendment 35 of the Cooperative Agreement: https://www.ntia.doc.gov/page/verisign-cooperative-agreement https://www.ntia.doc.gov/files/ntia/publications/amendment_35.pdf However, that amendment took place without any public consultation by the Department of Commerce and without any opportunity for the public to provide their own input and research. Furthermore, the precise language of paragraph 2.a) of that amendment, with regards to pricing, says: "Without further approval by the Department, at any time following the Effective Date of this Amendment 35, Verisign and ICANN ****may**** agree to amend Section 7.3(d)(i) (Maximum Price) of the .com Registry Agreement to......" (emphasis added) The exact language says "may", and not "must". "May" has a precise and unambiguous meaning, as per RFC 2119: https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2119 "5. MAY This word, or the adjective "OPTIONAL", mean that an item is truly optional. One vendor may choose to include the item because a particular marketplace requires it or because the vendor feels that it enhances the product while another vendor may omit the same item. An implementation which does not include a particular option MUST be prepared to interoperate with another implementation which does include the option, though perhaps with reduced functionality. In the same vein an implementation which does include a particular option MUST be prepared to interoperate with another implementation which does not include the option (except, of course, for the feature the option provides.)" Nothing in Amendment 35 *requires* ICANN to adopt that OPTIONAL pricing scheme, but rather that's the *maximum* Verisign can seek. ICANN is certainly within its powers to reject that maximum request, which it must do if it's to balance the interests of all affected stakeholders. In a good faith attempt at a renegotiation of that clause, ICANN's starting position should have been a 91%+ reduction in fees, to $0.70 per domain name per year (as per the .IN ccTLD tender). Verisign would be free to ask for an increase. If the two parties were unable to agree, then the status quo would remain, with fees capped at the current $7.85 per domain name per year. If Verisign was unhappy with $7.85 per domain name per year, they could certainly terminate the contract, which would then be allowed to go to tender to a successor registry operator (there'd be many who would relish the opportunity, even at $1 or $2 per domain per year). Furthermore, a regular tender process is entirely consistent with not being a price regulator, as it would be the competitive market itself (lowest bidder, subject to meeting a SLA) that dictates the price, rather than ICANN itself setting a price. But ICANN refuses to engage in that regular tender process, suggesting they would rather have higher fees for registrants, entirely consistent with the regulatory capture by the current registry operators who would most directly benefit financially from those higher fees. 6. It is important to note that Amendment 35 did not alter paragraph 3(a) of Amendment 32 to the Cooperative Agreement: https://www.ntia.doc.gov/files/ntia/publications/amendment_32_11292012.pdf "(a) At any time after the Effective Date of this Amendment 32, Verisign shall be entitled to seek removal of the pricing restrictions set forth in Section 7.3 of the .com Registry Agreement attached hereto if it demonstrates to the Department that market conditions no longer warrant such restrictions. Verisign shall be deemed to have made such a showing upon demonstrating that competition from other top level domains, use of alternative Internet navigation techniques (including search engines, browsers and URL shorteners, among others), reduced demand for domain names, or other factors ****are sufficient to constrain Verisign's pricing of Registry Services at the current Maximum Price.****" (emphasis added) Amendments 33 and 34 similarly did not alter or affect paragraph 3(a) of Amendment 32. Indeed, paragraph 4(b)(i) of Amendment 35 explicitly recognizes the continuation of paragraph 3(a): "4(b)The parties agree that the following terms are the sole terms in the .com Registry Agreement that require the prior written approval of the Department: i. Removal of the Maximum Price restriction under Section 7.3(d)(i) (Maximum Price) of the .com Registry Agreement, which by way of clarification *****will continue to be subject to Section 3(a) of Amendment 32***** setting forth the standard and process for removal; " It's clear that the intention of paragraph 3(a) of Amendment 32 is to only allow pricing caps to change if Verisign was effectively **constrained** by market forces to the *current* Maximum Price. However, we know Verisign is not constrained, but instead has market power (of a monopolist) to raise fees. Verisign is certainly not going to lower their fees (which they could do already, under the current agreement). Verisign seeks to amend the .com agreement only to raise fees. Indeed, if the current proposal before us is adopted, which allows for guaranteed fee increases, when would Verisign rationally pursue its right under paragraph 3(a) of Amendment 32? The answer is obviously "never", because if it did exercise that right, its future fee increases would be forever eliminated, constrained (by competition) to the then current Maximum Price. 7. ICANN staff are clearly trying to mislead the public, when they claim that "the devil made them do it", i.e. that they *had* to accede to Verisign's demands because the Department of Commerce forced their hand. That is not so. ICANN is attempting to shift the blame to others when they themselves are at fault. ICANN could have completely discharged their contractual obligations by entering into a good faith negotiation that resulted in no agreement at all, because Verisign refused to accept a $0.70/domain/yr fee (the result under a competitive tender) proposed by ICANN, and ICANN refused to accept unjustifiable price increases proposed by Verisign. ICANN itself certainly doesn't believe that they had to accede to Verisign's demands, otherwise how can they justify the $20 million payment? There is absolutely nothing in Amendment 35 that says Verisign shall pay $20 million to ICANN. Where did that number come from? Why isn't that number $2 million? Or $200 million? Or $2 billion? The presence of that $20 million is a "smoking gun", which betrays and undermines ICANN's false narrative that they were compelled to accede to Verisign's pricing demands due to Amendment 35. Instead, the $20 million is direct evidence of a "quid pro quo", in exchange for Verisign getting a multi-billion dollar financial windfall. Antitrust authorities should be investigating this regulatory capture by Verisign, where they clearly have control over the decision-makers who are not negotiating in the public interest. If ICANN was honest about being compelled to make these changes, they would have made the ***minimal*** amount of changes needed. We need only see that precedent via Amendment 34 to the Cooperative Agreement, which was adopted *verbatim* by ICANN as FIRST AMENDMENT TO .COM REGISTRY AGREEMENT: https://www.ntia.doc.gov/files/ntia/publications/amendment_34.pdf https://www.icann.org/sites/default/files/tlds/com/com-amend-1-pdf-20oct16-… But, ICANN is being dishonest, because nothing in Amendment 35 talks about the $20 million. ICANN is saying one thing in public (that they were forced into this deal), but another thing in private to Verisign (that they want Verisign to give them things not enumerated in Amendment 35, in exchange for the fee increases). That dishonesty alone by ICANN should disqualify them from being involved in this contractual negotiation, or having any trusted role as a steward of the domain name system. ICANN is lying to the public, because they are trying to "sell" this bad deal, pretending that it's in the public interest. ICANN's interests are not aligned with that of the public, but rather ICANN is aligning themselves with Verisign, as Verisign has fully captured their regulator. 8. A good faith negotiation would have extracted far greater concessions than $20 million from Verisign, in exchange for the proposed fee increases (which are worth billions of dollars to Verisign). It's clear that this was a bad faith negotiation, otherwise there would have been either no fee increases at all, or much greater concessions from Verisign. 9. Verisign's own negotiating position demonstrates that they too believe that ICANN has the power to reject fee increases. Otherwise, why would they voluntarily agree to flush $20 million down the toilet? That $20 million is there for a reason --- it *had* to be there, from their perspective, otherwise there'd be no deal. That tells us that Verisign *knows* that ICANN could refuse the fee increases, that the term "may" is not the same as the term "must". Given the choice of no deal, or this bad deal, then the best choice for the public interest is obvious --- there should be no change at all to the status quo. 10. ICANN and Verisign have not even fully and properly adopted the complete terms of Amendment 35. For example, the preamble says that: "WHEREAS, the parties agree that Verisign shall continue to operate the .com registry in a content neutral manner and will participate in ICANN processes that promote the development of content neutral policies for the operation of the Domain Name System (DNS);" (emphasis added) Paragraph 1 then makes it even more explicit: "1. Content Neutral Operations. The parties agree that Verisign will operate the .com registry in a content neutral manner and that Verisign will participate in ICANN processes that promote the development of content neutral policies for the operation of the DNS. " You'll note the phrasing used by was "will" (i.e. equivalent to "must"), not "may" for the content neutrality portion of Amendment 35. Where is the language in the proposed .COM amendment that refers to "content neutrality" or "content neutral policies"? [the words "neutral" or "neutrality" don't appear in the documents!] "Content neutrality" is directly related to free speech: https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/937/content-neutral "Content neutral refers to laws that apply to all expression without regard to the substance or message of the expression. Such laws generally regulate only the time, place, and manner of speech in contrast to content-based laws, which regulate speech based on content. This distinction is important in First Amendment cases because courts hold content-based laws to strict scrutiny — the highest form of judicial review — while holding content-neutral laws only to intermediate, or mid-level, scrutiny." It's clear that Verisign (and ICANN itself) has no respect whatsoever for free speech, given that I personally have been banned from participating in all ICANN GNSO Working Groups, disregarding and in violation of my free speech rights. https://freespeech.com/2019/04/05/update-my-participation-rights-have-now-b… and it was Mr. Keith Drazek of Verisign (as chair of GNSO Council) who sent the above letter. Mr. Philip S. Corwin of Verisign also played a role in that debacle, as documented on the FreeSpeech.com website. Under questioning by Ted Cruz, current CEO of ICANN Goran Marby did not defend free speech or the first amendment, see: https://www.cruz.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=2811 https://youtu.be/1hI0SNCLaO8?t=430 Sen. Cruz to Mr. Marby: “Is ICANN bound by the First Amendment?” Mr. Marby: “To my understanding, no.” (see 7:10 into video for the start of that segment) Where is there any language in this Proposed Amendment 3 from ICANN that compels Verisign and/or ICANN to respect free speech and content neutrality, and "to participate in ICANN processes that promote the development of content neutral policies for the operation of the Domain Name System (DNS);" It's not there. Instead, by its absence, ICANN and Verisign make a mockery of free speech by perpetuating my continued banishment from participating in ICANN GNSO and DNS policymaking working groups. Consistent with their ongoing disrespect for free speech, ICANN and Verisign have not even attempted to implement the content neutrality provisions of Amendment 35. 11. We also object to the major changes to the .COM Registry-Registrar Agreement (starting from page 47 of https://www.icann.org/sites/default/files/tlds/com/com-proposed-amend-3-03j… for those who didn't read that far!). Without mentioning all sections (we object to all the changes, out of an abundance of caution), we point out that the new language in section 2.7 is dangerous, potentially allowing Verisign the ability to override decisions by registrars as to how to handle various situations, which can result in elimination of due process for registrants. For example, 2.7(b) refers to: "any legal order or subpoena of ****any government*****, administrative or governmental authority, or court of competent jurisdiction," (emphasis added) which is not acceptable! For example, if this language is not modified, then it says that if a government from Cuba, North Korea, Iran or other totalitarian regime tells Verisign to transfer ownership of sites owned by my company, such as Math.com or FreeSpeech.com to their control, Verisign can go along! Or, why stop there? Why not allow Verisign to shut down Google.com, if the government of Iran or Turkey or Russia asks for it? Why bother with a shutdown -- suppose a government in one of those regimes orders the actual transfer of a domain name such as Google.com or Sex.com or School.com or Apple.com or Amazon.com or Microsoft.com? Again, why stop there? A "crafty" government seeking to profit economically, say in a banana republic, can pass a law to say that they want all dictionary-word dot-coms, 2-letter and 3-letter dot-coms and other valuable domain names to be transferred to them! That's many billions of dollars worth of digital assets, all for the taking --- if those banana republics can sell passports, citizenship, their entire ccTLDs, and engage in other dubious activities, why wouldn't they be incentivized to simply pass laws to order the transfer of an $872 million domain like Cars.com? https://www.godaddy.com/garage/the-top-20-most-expensive-domain-names/ https://www.dnacademy.com/the-definitive-guide-to-the-worlds-largest-domain… This is unacceptable. Registrants have an expectation that they will be governed by the laws of the jurisdictions in which they are based (or that of the registrar), and due process considerations demand that this continues. All of the changes to section 2.7(b) should be eliminated. For example, why single out "copyright infringement" -- why not criminal activity by banks such as Barclays? http://www.circleid.com/posts/20150520_should_barclays_lose_the_barclays_to… Or patent violations by Apple? https://www.theverge.com/2020/1/29/21114325/apple-broadcom-caltech-lawsuit-… Even Google has an active case involving alleged copyright infringements with Oracle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_v._Oracle_America If Google loses that case (now before the Supreme Court), why shouldn't they lose all of their domains, under the literal interpretation of the proposed Section 2.7(b)? It's clear to us that Section 2.7(b) is dangerous because it would only be selectively enforced. I doubt Google or Youtube has much to fear from Verisign, despite all the copyright infringement that takes place on their domains. But, by the strict language of that contract, conceivably they *should* be afraid. Instead, it'll be more vulnerable entities who would lose their domains, without proper due process. No one should have that power, except proper courts (in the proper jurisdictions, not "any jurisdiction"). Contracts should be read as to what's possible, and what's proposed here is potentially extremely dangerous. 12. The new language in Section 2.14 reinforces 2.7(b), and also must be eliminated, for the reasons above. 13. The new language in Section 6.3 of "Force Majeure" is also highly objectionable, and must be removed. In particular, force majeure would begin to apply to " cyberattack, to protect against imminent and substantial threats to the security and stability of the Registry TLD, System, Verisign’s name server operations or the internet". Verisign often attempts to justify its high fees by saying that it has to pay for defending against DDOS attacks (i.e. cyberattacks). It would incentivize Verisign to reduce its security costs and SLA standards if it can then simply rely on declaring "force majeure" for any attack that takes it down. Verisign has one main job, and one job alone, namely 100% uptime. Verisign and ICANN are inconsistent when they say they want "to preserve and enhance the security and stability of the Internet or the TLD” but at the same time add new language in the "force majeure" section that detracts from and reduces security and stability, and which says less than 100% uptime is acceptable. SSAC should have spoken out immediately about this new language, but perhaps SSAC members are too busy drooling at the thought that $20 million might come their way in one form or another, as the LOI says: https://www.icann.org/sites/default/files/tlds/com/com-proposed-loi-03jan20… "convene subject matter experts within ICANN, the ICANN community and Verisign to meet monthly, or more frequently as appropriate, to work to effectuate the items described in Section 1(A)(i-iii) above." Who are the "subject matter experts within ICANN"? Probably some will come from the SSAC, which will now be in a conflict of interest, as they are not willing to bite the hand that feeds them by speaking out against this bad deal. 14. We object to the language in the Public Interest Commitments (page 68 of the PDF https://www.icann.org/sites/default/files/tlds/com/com-proposed-amend-3-03j… ) for the same reasons as discussed above in point 11 of this comment, namely the potential loss of due process rights for registrants. 15. We object to the proposed "Letter of Intent", in its entirety: https://www.icann.org/sites/default/files/tlds/com/com-proposed-loi-03jan20… Verisign does not have a great "history of stewardship" --- remember SiteFinder and the ensuing litigation? (as noted by other commenters) They should not be equal partners with ICANN or have any superior position to any other stakeholder in deciding future binding policies. The Letter of Intent was a "quid pro quo", as noted earlier. 16. This proposal by ICANN staff and Verisign demonstrates everything that is wrong with ICANN. A brand new negotiation is required. The starting point should be a list of the absolute minimum set of changes required by the Cooperative Agreement, if any. As noted above, the "may" language, combined with the presence of the quid pro quo, implies that the "absolute minimal changes" are different than what has been presented to us for consideration. Indeed, one alternative is to simply refuse ALL changes, and let Verisign go to court, if they so desire, to have the courts interpret what is required and what is optional. No deal is better than this deal. Any court-ordered set of the absolute minimally-required contractual changes would likely be far better for the public than what has been presented to us. 17. As there is no immediate deadline (I believe October or November 2020 is the most relevant date for completing a "negotiation"), ICANN should hold a series of public webinars with Questions and Answers from the public and its important stakeholders. This is the most important contract, financially for ICANN, for registrars, and for registrants. It deserves the greatest scrutiny. Sincerely, George Kirikos President Leap of Faith Financial Services Inc. http://www.leap.com/

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Re: [Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] Proposed Amendment 3 to the .COM Registry Agreement
by Stereo Strategy Feb. 14, 2020

Feb. 14, 2020

Dear, As a wise man once said: “Greed is a fat demon with a small mouth and whatever you feed it is never enough.” With a 60-85 percent operating margin, Verisign is already an obese cacodemon sitting on a goldmine but of course wishing it was even bigger. Another wise man added: “A monopoly implies customers have no choices, and are screwed over time after time. Incompetence is rewarded more often than not.” In the meantime, internet spam, scams and fraud are at an all-time high. You should be ashamed! Just don’t expect us to remain silent and see how the Icann-Verisign tandem are executing their gold-digging scheme, duping millions of customers along the way. We will watch you. We will fight back. This is not a threat. It’s a warning. Kind regards, Sarah Blake for Stereo Strategy Representing over 170 clients And 4,200 .com domain names REMEMBER: “The gluttons dig their own graves with their teeth.”

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[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] Proposed Amendment 3 to the .COM Registry Agreement
by Dan Garcia Feb. 14, 2020

Feb. 14, 2020

I am a registrant of a .com domain name. I am against the proposed price increase to .COM domains. No one other than Verisign want increases in .COM prices. The current rate of $7.85 is already far more than justified. Verisign is merely your manager of the .COM Registry – it has no business dictating the price. ICANN is supposed to govern the domain name system in the public interest.

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[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] .COM Price Increase
by Justin Foell Feb. 14, 2020

Feb. 14, 2020

Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. There is going to be no benefit to registrants or consumers, just more money in your pockets.

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[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] How will I be able to afford my website?
by James Brako-McComb Feb. 14, 2020

Feb. 14, 2020

Who else is wondering the same thing? It might not be much for people in first world countries but it's a hefty some for others.

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[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] .COM price increases
by Jessi Brown Feb. 14, 2020

Feb. 14, 2020

Hello, I was dismayed to hear about the new arrangement between Verisign and ICANN. I am a sole proprietor - small business owner. I am dependent on having my .com website attract clients. Honestly, I do not have any more money in the budget to cover the proposed price increases outlined in this deal. Please, consider the small business owners and find a way to support us as you map a path going forward. Thank you, Jessi Eden Brown, MS, LMHC, LPC, NCC Eden-therapy.com

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[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] COM Price Domain Comment
by Brian Swift Feb. 14, 2020

Feb. 14, 2020

Hi, I’d like to submit a comment opposing any unjustified price increases on .com domains. The inexpensive entry cost of the internet is a factor that has contributed to the plethora of great content. By allowing for the cost of .com domains to increase, without explanation or justification, you will make the internet less accessible to artists, designers, small businesses, and those that want to use the internet to contribute to pop culture. Please give careful consideration to any price increases you implement, and be transparent in letting internet users know what those price increases are going towards and why they are necessary. Thank you, Brian Swift www.brianswift.com www.alacrito.us

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[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] DO NOT Raise Prices & Act More Transparently
by Edward Phelps Feb. 14, 2020

Feb. 14, 2020

To Whom It May Concern, I am writing to set forth my dissent for the Contract executed with VeriSign which was announced on January 3, 2020. As 40% of all domain names are .com domains, the promise of up to 70% price increases over the next decade represents a serious strategic attack on the ability of individuals and small organizations to acquire and hold domain assets. I project the effects to include deep reductions in the number of individual and small organizations that hold domains, and concurrently a rise in the consolidation of domain assets among corporate enterprises. This will seriously affect small business growth by 1) shifting the ability to acquire online domain assets to the top echelon of small businesses; and 2) limiting the overall visibility and reach of small business online. Simply put, there are more equitable approaches to achieving the profit goals. With this memo I make the following requests: 1. Renegotiate the VeriSign contract with participation of key domain seller community members and stakeholders. 2. Collect current public opinion data and factor it into the planning process. 3. Devise and implement a globally transparent process for developing domain pricing policy and agreements. Remember that how you see things is ultimately just that... how "you" see things. There are other perspectives and options that can yield dramatically more favorable results over the near and long term. Thanks for all that you do to make domains available. -- Edward Phelps ephelps09(a)gmail.com

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[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] Digimedia.com, LP’s comment to ICANN regarding the Proposed Amendment 3 to the .COM Registry Agreement
by Jay Chapman Feb. 14, 2020

Feb. 14, 2020

Our company, a 20+ year owner, developer, operator, investor and partner of businesses utilizing our .com domain names, is grateful for this opportunity to comment. We are not in favor of ICANN granting exclusive perpetual no bid contracts and its allowance of price increases without substantive justification or ties to cost of providing service. Jay Chapman Digimedia.com, LP

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[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] Please don't raise prices
by Adele Prince Feb. 14, 2020

Feb. 14, 2020

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[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] (no subject)
by Anthony Avina Feb. 14, 2020

Feb. 14, 2020

I oppose Amendment 3 to the .COM Registry Agreement. ICANN receiving $20 million from Verisign seems a conflict of interest, as well as how Verisign would be able to operate as a domain registrar. ICANN also has a history of ignoring comments on previous actions such as price controlling .ORG, .INFO, and .BIZ TLDs. ICANN should take the public comments they receive seriously and act in parallel to their principles that include "bottom-up coordination" ( https://www.icann.org/resources/unthemed-pages/icann-mou-1998-11-25-en) If ICANN needs the $20 million in order to operate, they should provide an itemized list of costs as a plan to justify these actions. As it stands, I and countless others are not convinced. -Anthony

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[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] .Com price
by VietOptics Assistance Feb. 14, 2020

Feb. 14, 2020

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[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] Form Post from Firefox
by Bill Root Feb. 14, 2020

Feb. 14, 2020

utf8=✓ authenticity_token=Aryw+5i6SC7hp68Q/SXdZcLhKpQDdZekfyL9yUAJVS/Gp/uBHjehhRWnyiX9ekMdEQrYJ7zli6sTavUYslQQIQ== terms_of_services=yes commit=Continue I am very disturbed that ICANN once again plans to increase prices (or allow increasing prices) on domain registration. Virtually all technology decreases in price over time largely because the costs decrease. Computers cost less. Cell phones and smart phones (for equivalent features) cost less. Software costs less. Web hosting costs less. What justification can you give for allowing the price of domain registration to increase? Domain registration isn't a one-time cost, it's an ongoing cost. I have a very small software business whose income has declined partly because of the perceived decline in value of computer software. In order to maintain the business I have to renew my domains, which are all variations on the company name (no speculation here), annually. Why do you want to make it more expensive to do business on the internet when the costs are declining? A potential 70% increase over 10 years is significant and is well above inflation. Based on ICANN's actions -- increasing domain registration prices in exchange for money going directly to ICANN, making deals in secret, ignoring public comments -- it's impossible to have a good opinion of your organization. It looks like ICANN is taking money from small businesses (indirectly, granted) and using it for their own benefit. Please stop this deal. Sincerely, Bill Root

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