April 2019 - comments-org-renewal-18mar19@icann.org

[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] Opposed to the changes proposed in the .org agreement renewal
by Matt Kornegay April 25, 2019

April 25, 2019

Thank you for the opportunity to submit a comment. ICANN does not seem to recognize the difference between a legacy extension created with the support of the US government, that predates the existence of ICANN and that has millions of existing users and the brand new extensions that started off with a new set of rules, in particular no price controls, and no existing registrants. They have completely different characteristics, history, and ownership structure. It is not acceptable for ICANN to ignore these differences and to propose that they be treated the same. Removing price caps is not fair to .org domain owners. Many of them have websites that they have used for years. If price caps are removed, the cost to renew their domain names may become too expensive, and they could be forced to give up websites that are important to them. The Uniform Rapid Suspension policy is too new and untested to apply on domain names that may be 20 years old or more. With the URS, the domain names could be taken down in a matter of days with little notice. ICANN should be doing more to protect owners of .org domain names. Why is ICANN trying to remove price protections for .org domain owners, so many of which are non-profits, so that they can be overcharged for their domain names? Please do not allow caps to be lifted on .org domains and also remove the 10% increase.m. This will significantly impact non-profits (that already have a limited budget) and their ability to afford TLDs. It will also cause organizations not to be able to secure other TLDs because they are not available (ex. .coms, .nets, etc). Think about all the marketing and printing that goes into a change like this too. Very costly. You could bankrupt nonprofits on this one bad decision. Please, please keep this from happening. This will impact my organization and the ones we work with in a huge negative way and ultimately cause our online presence to disappear. The ripple affect of a decision like this will be felt all over the world. Thanks, Matt Kornegay Reach Recovery & CG Design

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[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] Opposed to the new .org agreement
by Thomas James April 25, 2019

April 25, 2019

Hello, I am a domain name registrant and a .org registrant. Legacy gTLDs are fundamentally different from for-profit new gTLDs and should be treated that way. Legacy TLDs are what the internet was built on. They are essentially a public trust. They are very different than new gTLDs which were created, bought and paid for by private parties. Registrants of these legacy extensions should be entitled to price predictability & stability. Advancements in technology should be driving the cost of operating a registry down, yet prices keep going up? Removing price caps is unfair to the millions of domain registrants. They will have no price protections. Every registrant will be at the complete mercy and whims of the registry. This could result in a transfer of funds from millions of non-profits to one non-profit, with no benefits to the domain registrants. ICANN is supposed to represent a "bottom up, consensus-driven multistakeholder model". ICANN should not unilaterally impose URS in legacy TLDs when that issue is precisely what is being examined by the volunteer ICANN Working Group who has been mandated to review this issue. ICANN should be looking out for the .org registrants, in particular the non-profits. There is no "public benefit" justification to these changes. It is just a handout to business at the expense of registrants’ rights and protections. Where are the protections for the millions of domain registrants that this could effect in a negative way? These changes would give way too much power to the registry. This is not acceptable for a "public benefit" organization that exists to represent many stakeholders. Sincerely, Thomas James

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[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] Against the changes proposed in the .org agreement renewal
by Pete Wright April 25, 2019

April 25, 2019

Thank you for the opportunity to submit a comment. I am a .org registrant. Legacy gTLDs are fundamentally different from for-profit new gTLDs and should be treated that way. Legacy TLDs are what the internet was built on. They are essentially a public trust. They are very different than new gTLDs which were created, bought and paid for by private parties. Registrants of these legacy extensions should be entitled to price predictability & stability. Advancements in technology should be driving the cost of operating a registry down, yet prices keep going up? Removing price caps is unfair to the millions of domain registrants. They will have no price protections. Every registrant will be at the complete mercy and whims of the registry. This could result in a transfer of funds from millions of non-profits to one non-profit, with no benefits to the domain registrants. ICANN is supposed to represent a "bottom up, consensus-driven multistakeholder model". ICANN should not unilaterally impose URS in legacy TLDs when that issue is precisely what is being examined by the volunteer ICANN Working Group who has been mandated to review this issue. Sincerely, Pete Wright -- Pete Wright pete(a)nomadlogic.org @nomadlogicLA

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[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] TERRIBLE IDEA!!!
by Arthur Tanner April 25, 2019

April 25, 2019

I don't even know where to begin. This looks like a way to extract higher fees from already existing customers, most of them non-profit orgs that can't afford it. I don't see any other motive than greed. Shame on ICANN!

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[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] Comment on proposed revision to .org registration contract
by rshaw＠genlit.org April 25, 2019

April 25, 2019

I am concerned that the proposed change will drop the protection from unlimited price increases that existing holders of .org domain names now benefit from. I do not believe that the .org TLD is the same as other TLDs, such as .com and .biz, because of its historical home of nonprofit organizations. Although there is no enforcement which restricts use of .org to truly nonprofit users, in fact it is home to many, if not most, such organizations. Nonprofit organizations very frequently have severe limits on funds available for any purpose whatsoever. Some of them are not formally organized simply because the costs of achieving formal status is not financially possible. If renewal prices for their .org domain name substantially increase, they may be forced to drop their existing, recognized presence on the Internet, and may lose any Internet presence of any form because of the costs. I urge ICANN to continue the price increase restrictions on .org renewals in its new contract with the .org registration provider, as doing otherwise will reduce the public good provided by the Internet. - Robert Shaw

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[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] Please: Do not allow PIR”s to set prices
by Mike Hayden April 25, 2019

April 25, 2019

Dear ICANN, PIR unrestrained pricing will result in much higher prices for domains which will make it prohibitive for small business and independent sole proprietor to be able to afford them. All you need do is look at the resell marketplace and the “hostage taking” of expired domain names to see how high the prices will rise. This idea of allowing unrestrained pricing goes against the spirit and original intent of the internet to be something everyone can use fully. In truth, even the current 10% per year increase should be instead fixed to the cost of living index. Sincerely, J M Hayden California

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[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] .org renewal contracts
by Bill Parsons April 25, 2019

April 25, 2019

Please do not allow an open increase in.org contact renewal costs. This will cause the collapse of many integral web sites that are a regular resource for many people. Bill Parsons parsonsmusic.org

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[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] Proposed price cap provisions for .org gTLD
by Alberto Gaitán April 25, 2019

April 25, 2019

On behalf of some of the non-profits I consult for I want to protest the proposed elimination of the price cap provisions for the .org gTLD. Whereas it may not affect existing domains, the fact that new organizations will now be subject to potentially predatory capitalism to stake their claim on the WWW is distressing. ICANN's role in this should be protective of the common good and not only of the interests of corporations and speculators who would now be able to increase their fees exponentially. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Alberto Gaitán Washington, DC United States of America

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[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] Submitting comments opposed to the proposed .org registry agreement
by Have Goals April 25, 2019

April 25, 2019

To whom it may concern: I am a .org registrant and a not-for-profit or non-profit organization. I've read about a lot of bad decisions under the UDRP. The URS seems even worse. I heard the URS is very new and is being reviewed now to see if it is working properly. It is too soon to include an untested policy on .org domains where for a few hundred dollars anyone could try to shut down someone else's website. Telling the .org registry that it can charge any price it wants for renewing a domain name is a terrible idea. Why would you allow them to set a crazy high price? They could try to force the domain owners to pay a very high price each year to renew their domain name, and if the domain owner either won't or can't, then the .org registry could take away their domain name, set a high registration price on it, and then try to find someone else who is willing to pay a high price for it. This is very unfair to long time .org domain owners who may see their prices raised sky high for no reason. You let the new domain extensions charge any price they want, but that hasn't gone so well. Lots of people got burned when the new registries offered low rates for the first year, and then after people registered the domain names and some built web sites on them, some of the prices were raised through the roof. .Org has been working just fine for decades where the prices maybe go up a little bit each year. Allowing huge price increases from one year to the next could ruin .org for everybody. I think you should pay a little more attention to what is good for the owners of .org domain names. The registries are doing fine. They don't need your help as they are already making plenty of money.

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[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] Non profits rely on .org domains and can't pay increased fees
by Chad Parson April 25, 2019

April 25, 2019

Please keep the capped limit on .org domain names as non profits predominately all have .org domain names and can't handle increased fees.

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