A fixed price at $7.85 benefits the marketplace. It provides stability and certainty to smaller actors, whose money makes up a substantial portion of the market. It benefits larger actors as their finances are also more predictable, though I dislike squatters (one example of large actors, not the only). This won't remove squatters - they'll just pass the costs along to those they rip off. It possibly might dehost many sites though, which concerns me deeply. I've run skylords.com now since 2004 or so, and it's been online even longer. I host it as a passion project, and have very little money to put into it. Increasing costs could force me to delist, allowing a squatter to claim the domain. I got tons of purchase offers a decade ago, and I don't doubt a squatter would see the value in it, since I get misdirected email from various similarly named organizations. Increased technology should demonstrate reduced costs constantly, even in the face of inflation. Further - it is important to have a stable DNS root. Lack of public confidence in ICANN is likely to lead to DNS fragmentation as alternate roots proliferate once again. Eventually, ICANN could lose control of the DNS should public confidence be shaken too far. I feel this change is unnecessary and dangerous, and the means by which it was negotiated seem extremely questionable, shaking my and public confidence. I believe it would be wise of ICANN to try to live within a small budget instead of increasing their reach - or lining their pockets. Thank you. -- Iiridayn