Top-level domains are a necessary feature of the Internet that was devised to make life easier for users, not to create a business out of it.

The practice of charging form registries can be accepted, as long as it is meant to cover the costs of the infrastructure. ICANN was kept in charge of it, as a bona fide institution that is meant to keep the Internet going.

Turning the registry business into a for-profit monopoly that goes far beyond the mandate to keep the infrastructure going and recouping the costs is a complete subversion of the original spirit of the Internet.

If ICANN turns into a money-making machine or allows other to do that, taking advantage of its monopoly power, it will invite the creation of alternatives to the current model, and either subvert the Internet as we know it, or put it into the hands of other institutions, creating future uncertainty.

So, please stick to your original mandate and stop thinking of the TLD as your own personal piggy bank.

Best regards,

Jose Luis Malaquias