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

[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] comment about proposed dot org price increases
by Dave Tyrer April 29, 2019

April 29, 2019

Hi, All TLDs should have strict limits on annual price increases. For example, they should be limited to an annual increase of say 5 percent plus the annual inflation rate. This should also be on a non-cumulative basis. Such a sensible control would help to ensure the internet is ³stable and trusted². Stability and trust are key goals of ICANN as written in its own report: ³ICANN Publishes Updated Domain Name Marketplace Indicators² ³This report includes expanded coverage to include ccTLD data. ICANN plans to track progress against its goal of supporting the evolution of the domain name marketplace to be robust, stable and trusted.² https://www.icann.org/news/announcement-2019-04-17-en As you can see, ICANN has the aim of promoting a market which is ³stable and trusted² which would not be served by allowing registries to increase prices (as history has shown) by anything up to thousands of percent. This would not be in the public interest. Unlimited price increases would benefit the relevant registry but to the detriment of registrants who may even suffer financial stress as a result. This would contradict ICANN¹s mission that: ³In performing its Mission, ICANN must operate in a manner consistent with these Bylaws for the benefit of the Internet community as a whole² ICANN Annual Report 2017-18 https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/annual-report-2018-en.pdf Unlimited shock price increases would clearly not benefit ³the Internet community as a whole.² Allowing unlimited price increases to one class of TLDs and not others would be discriminatory and inconsistent. This would contravene ICANN¹s commitment in its Annual Report: ³(v) Make decisions by applying documented policies consistently, neutrally, objectively, and fairly, without singling out any particular party for discriminatory treatment² Hence I am strongly opposed to allowing any registry to be allowed to increase registration prices without a sensible limit such as proposed above. Regards, Dave Tyrer BrandableDomain.com

1 0

[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] Proposed Renewal of .org Registry Agreement
by Sean Cooper April 29, 2019

April 29, 2019

I am a .org registrant (non-profit). 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.

1 0

[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] Disagreement on the Removal of Price caps on .org
by Sofi Cienfuegos April 29, 2019

April 29, 2019

April 26th, 2019 I am a .org registrant. I am writing on behalf of The Tree School Organization to express our concern and disagreement towards the removal of price restrictions on .org domain names. We do not think it is fair to remove price caps because just as we do, many .org domain owners have been using their websites for years. If price caps are removed, the cost to renew our domain names may become too expensive, and we could be forced to give up websites that are important to us. 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? We want to express our disagreement because we are a non-profit organization (like most of .org domain owners) who work for the well-being of the planet and as I said before, we do not think it is fair. There should be price restrictions as they always have existed. Also, legacy extensions, which involve millions of users and was created with the support of the U.S. government, should be treated differently than new extensions. We hope that our concerns are heard, and we look forward to the resolution of this issue. Sincerely, Sofía Cienfuegos The Tree School

1 0

[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] Proposed Renewal of .org Registry Agreement
by Andreas Kneiseler April 29, 2019

April 29, 2019

I am a .org registrant (not-for-profit). 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. sincerly Andreas Kneiseler

1 0

[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] IT'S NOT OK TO INCREASE FEE FOR .ORG DOMAINS WHICH ARE PREDOMINANTLY USED BY NON-PROFITS
by kandhan kuhan April 29, 2019

April 29, 2019

IT'S NOT OK TO INCREASE FEE FOR. ORG DOMAINS WHICH ARE PREDOMINANTLY USED BY NON-PROFITS IT'S NOT OK TO INCREASE FEE FOR .ORG DOMAINS WHICH ARE PREDOMINANTLY USED BY NON-PROFITS IT'S NOT OK TO INCREASE FEE FOR. ORG DOMAINS WHICH ARE PREDOMINANTLY USED BY NON-PROFITS -- As ever, Kandhan

1 0

[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] Proposed Renewal of .org Registry Agreement
by Мартин Жеков April 29, 2019

April 29, 2019

I am a domain name 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.

1 0

[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] Rise in domain name prices
by Richard E April 29, 2019

April 29, 2019

To whom it may concern, I have recently started a non profit and purchased 2 .org domain names. While they were a good price, it is an overhead expense nonetheless. A price increase in anything is never really a good thing for a small business or a non profit as it means we have to pass those expenses on to consumers. In A non profit case, it means more of our donors money goes towards overhead and less towards the work we do. One of the issues that donors have already with non profits is that they don't want to see their hard earned money (which they choose to give) go to overhead. So an increase in domain name prices could potentially lead to less donors being willing to sacrifice funds. Please reconsider the proposals you are suggesting for the sake of the start ups and non profits especially, but also for the consumers and those the non profits serve. Thank you for your time Richard Elkin "Great things are accomplished by a series of small things being brought together." - Vincent Van Gogh

1 0

[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] Removing price caps on all .org domains will affect negatively non-profit organisations
by Radoslav Stoyanov April 29, 2019

April 29, 2019

I appeal to ICANN not to remove price caps on .org domains. The reason for this is that it will have a negative impact on the online presence (hence, publicity) of non-profit organizations. Many such organizations outside North America are now struggling financially and their existence is challenged by increasingly authoritarian governments. Unlike the US and Canada where non-profits sometimes operate with multimillion annual budgets in the rest of the world, non-profits are sometimes on the brink of existence every month. Removing price caps will open the door for registries to increase the prices of .org as they wish without regulation. This may lead non-profits to a situation where obtaining proper domain will no longer be financially possible. An example of that in the .bg domain for Bulgaria where only one local for-profit company holds the monopoly as a registry of the domain and the price for that domain is three times higher than .com. Radoslav Stoyanov Sofia, Bulgaria +359 899 470 703

1 0

[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] Keep the price cap on ORG
by Brady Owens April 29, 2019

April 29, 2019

I write to oppose the removal of price caps on any of the “legacy” TLDs as doing so will only create a free-for-all on limitless price increases across the well-established board. These legacy domain names, some of which have been registered for many years, are unlike the new mess being created and owners of these legacy names have a reasonable expectation of affordability and stability. Brady Owens Owner Fastglass LLC tele: 617.682.9484 email: info(a)fastglass.net

1 0

[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] Comment in ICANN proposal
by IJEA April 29, 2019

April 29, 2019

Surely some kind of cap is necessary? Whilst I appreciate that there is a cost for registrars, domain names are a public resource, and as such should be subject to a level of control and regulation. Even more so for domains that are predominately used for charities. If well known names are forced to relinquish their domains because they cannot afford them, then this could also open the door for spoofing and cyber criminals. Thanks for your consideration. Mr I Ashman

1 0