I have a Ph.D in computer science and I am currently an assistant professor at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, PA. I am writing to urge ICANN and Verisign NOT to raise the prices of the top level domain ".com" Doing so directly hurts a variety of small enterprises and individuals and therefore is harmful to the web in general. When .com domains (by far the most popular TLD) become more expensive it discourages small businesses, individuals, startups, and other similar small / new enterprises from creating their own websites. They will likely turn to alternative "walled gardens" to publish content on the web such as social media platforms. Instead of being able to act independently and build their brand on a neutral, equal opportunity platform they are pushed to grow and reinforce the already massive social media companies. They are also then subject to the rules, policies, and procedures of these companies. Additionally, for many organizations that already hold a .com TLD there is entrenchment. They have built a business and a brand on their TLD website. These price changes are going to extract money from these companies, forcing them to pay more for the same service being provided. This is unfair to those organizations and consolidates large sums of money to an already powerful organization (Verisign). Cheap .com domains help enable innovation, new ideas, original content, and startup businesses. They keep the web an open and free place, and they encourage exploration and independence. A marketplace with more independent actors is more divergent, exciting, and creative. -- -Professor Novak