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

[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] .org Price Caps
by Chris Houser April 25, 2019

April 25, 2019

I strongly oppose lifting of price controls for the .org TLD as this will likely result in a runaway pricing model as seen with newer TLDs. Many non-profit organizations have sites registered with a .org address and this would be an unnecessarily burdensome increase on them, solely to increase profits for registrars. The traditional TLDs should keep price caps to ensure they are affordable for all. Regards, Chris Houser

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[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] Feedback on the .org agreement
by Bill McLaughlin April 25, 2019

April 25, 2019

Thank you for the opportunity to submit a comment. I am a .org registrant. 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. Sincerely Bill McLaughlin Bill McLaughlin 5705949417

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[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] Against removing price caps
by Waleed Zuberi April 25, 2019

April 25, 2019

The price caps should remain in place as has been the operating norm for years. This would unnecessarily disrupt an integral part of the internet and should not be removed without better analysis.

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[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] Objection to new iCANN renewal policy
by Kelly Currier April 25, 2019

April 25, 2019

As owner of a .org domain, and one who has many clients with similar .org domains, I absolutely object to the ICANN contract renewal change that would allow registrars to charge any price they choose for .org domain renewals, with no limit cap (like the current 10% per year rule). As .org domains are generally used for non-profit organizations - and the clients I have fall into that category (my non-profit has yet to be formed, but I own the .org domain for that intention) -- this will be an economic hardship on these companies and groups that they can ill afford. Having the market "correct itself" has proven to be a pipedream, as we have seen with the skyrocketing costs of prescription medications (sometimes increasing in price over 5000% in one year). Registrars will no doubt take immediate advantage of this opportunity to charge whatever they choose - and many non-profits who own those .orgs will have no choice but to accede to such 'ransom demands' in order to continue their charitable work. And the costs will cut into and diminish the good work they are doing and limit their capabilities. PLEASE do not allow this ruling in the Registry Agreement go through as it is currently written. The 10% per year cap is necessary for organizations to function financially. Thank you for your attention to these comments. Kelly Currier

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[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] Proposed .org changes
by Ben Wright April 25, 2019

April 25, 2019

Please reconsider the proposal to lift the cap on price increases for .org domains. This would not necessarily be a financial hardship to the for-profit company I represent, but it could be for many organizations. .org domain owners have no leverage in this situation and no real alternative. It is effectively a mandatory tax on non-profits, organizations that by definition aren’t out to make a profit. That’s terrible stewardship of an essential resource. -- Ben Wright Senior System Administrator Phone: 425.460.8282 Email: b.wright(a)tecplot.com<mailto:b.wright@tecplot.com> Tecplot Inc. | Master the View 3535 Factoria Blvd. SE, Ste. 550 Bellevue, WA USA 98006 Fax: 425.653.9200 Web: www.tecplot.com<https://apac01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tecpl…>

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[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] bad idea, wrong move
by Aaron Andrew Hunt April 25, 2019

April 25, 2019

ICANN, Removing price caps on *any* domain name is a bad idea, and it is particularly wrong here considering .org is associated with non-profits. Sincerely, Aaron Andrew Hunt

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[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] Strongly Oppose No Price Restrictions
by Delmesha Richards April 25, 2019

April 25, 2019

Greetings, I just want to make sure my voice is heard as it relates to how I vehemently oppose and disagree with all price restrictions on .org, .biz and .info domain names. Leaving it to be completely at the discretion of Public Interest Registry is not in the best interest of me or my clients - the public and the consumers. Please do not make this decision. Thank you, Delmesha Richards

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Re: [Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] Proposed Renewal of .org Registry Agreement
by Monica Cellio April 25, 2019

April 25, 2019

Hello, I am the owner of a .org domain and a resident of Pennsylvania. (I mention the latter in case it's relevant that PIR is a PA company.) I oppose the removal of the price cap currently in place for renewals. The current agreement allows for a 10%/year increase, which is a fair and appropriate increase in a mature field where registries do not need to build out expensive infrastructure. Because ICANN has a monopoly -- we cannot simply choose to get our domain names elsewhere -- you have an ethical obligation to adhere to fair pricing that protects consumers. I ask you to restore the current 10%/year price cap. Thank you. Monica Cellio cellio.org

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[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] Removing price cap on .org registry is way to enrich corporations and ignore millions of consumers
by Sanjeev Shukla April 25, 2019

April 25, 2019

I completely disagree any removal of price cap on any TLD, let alone .org domain. In fact, I would like the registration cost to go down because there is no reason to pay $9 markup on something that costs few cents. I see this as a way to give greenlight to few registrars so that they can charge whatever they like. I completely oppose the measure to remove price cap on .org domain.

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[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] .org Pricing Updates
by Michael McGurty April 25, 2019

April 25, 2019

I have owned two .org domain names since 2016 for a non-profit organization. I've maintained these personally during that timeframe because they are an organization that I volunteer with extensively and I know they can't afford additional vanities like this. However, in 2019 it is impossible to do non-profit work without having a domain name and e-mail addresses that match and are professional to work with our other volunteers and fundraising. If the prices increase, I will likely be forced to shift that cost to them rather than out of my pocket. I am only out a few dollars per month with the current DNS pricing, if the pricing increases 100x there is no way I can bare that burden anymore. I think other non-profits are likely in the same boat as myself, they have volunteers that are paying for these things to help the organization they work for free out. If you want to raise prices, raise them on the .com's for commercial domain names. They are able to afford the cost increases and they are for-profit anyway. Thanks, Michael McGurty

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