The foundation of unbridled innovation underpinning the Internet begins with the low cost of entry for the basic TLDs. While your financial models may indicate that raising domain prices will not affect business costs much, you’re neglecting how the existing, very low cost of entry could be considered the one of the lowest cost barriers to entry in the history of free enterprise and free expression.

Ratcheting up the fees for domains will begin to affect innovation immediately. In the long run, raising the price of a domain will stifle innovation. You may not think so but the low cost of domains allows for an infinite amount of very low budget experimenting and testing. While most of this activity goes nowhere, this still leads to ideas that do spurn innovation and business expansion.

We’re already treated to significantly higher costs for the so-called vanity or boutique TLDs, please don’t ruin the foundation of the Internet but raising the cost of ordinary domains. Don’t go down this route. The consequences will not be good for the entire planet.