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

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

April 25, 2019

Thank you for the opportunity to submit a comment. I am a .org registrant. ICANN staff 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 policy making is supposed to be a 'bottom up, multi-stakeholder model'. I believe that legacy gTLDs are fundamentally different from for-profit new gTLDs. Legacy TLDs are essentially a public trust, unlike new gTLDs which were created, bought and paid for by private interests. Registrants of legacy TLDs are entitled to price stability and predictability, and should not be subject to price increases with no maximums. Unlike new gTLDs, registrants of legacy TLDs registered their names and made their online presence on legacy TLDs on the basis that price caps would continue to exist. Unrestrained price increases on the millions of .org registrants who are not-for-profits or non-profits would be unfair to them. Unchecked price increases have the potential to result in hundreds of millions of dollars being transferred from these organizations to one non-profit, the Internet Society, with .org registrants receiving no benefit in return. ICANN should not allow one non-profit nearly unlimited access to the funds of other non-profits. ICANN appears to be entirely catering to registries by removing price caps. ICANN should stand up for the public interest and registrants!

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

April 25, 2019

I am a domain name registrant. 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? Thanks *Vibhu Satpaul* Business Head, Saffron Tech <https://www.saffrontech.net/> Email : vibhu(a)saffrontech.net <https://twitter.com/VSatpaul> <https://www.linkedin.com/in/vsatpaul/> 124 Little Falls Rd, Suite 205, Fairfield, NJ 07102 USA www.saffrontech.net, www.saffronedge.com <https://www.saffrontech.net/> <https://www.facebook.com/SaffronTechPvtLtd/> <https://twitter.com/saffrontechpltd> <https://www.linkedin.com/company/1855251> This email, including any attached files, may contain confidential information for the sole use of the intended recipient(s). Any review, use, distribution or disclosure by others is strictly prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient (or authorized to receive information for the recipient), please contact the sender by reply email and delete all copies of this message. Please consider our environment before printing this email.

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

April 25, 2019

To whom it may concern: I am a domain name registrant. 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?

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[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] Proposed Renewal of .org Registry Agreement
by Eric Kingery April 25, 2019

April 25, 2019

I am a domain name registrant, including a recently registered .org domain. ICANN staff 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 policy making is supposed to be a ‘bottom up, multi-stakeholder model’. I believe that legacy gTLDs are fundamentally different from for-profit new gTLDs. Legacy TLDs are essentially a public trust, unlike new gTLDs which were created, bought and paid for by private interests. Registrants of legacy TLDs are entitled to price stability and predictability, and should not be subject to price increases with no maximums. Unlike new gTLDs, registrants of legacy TLDs registered their names and made their online presence on legacy TLDs on the basis that price caps would continue to exist. Unrestrained price increases on the millions of .org registrants who are not-for-profits or non-profits would be unfair to them. Unchecked price increases have the potential to result in hundreds of millions of dollars being transferred from these organizations to one non-profit, the Internet Society, with .org registrants receiving no benefit in return. ICANN should not allow one non-profit nearly unlimited access to the funds of other non-profits. ICANN appears to be entirely catering to registries by removing price caps. ICANN should stand up for the public interest and registrants! The 10% annual increase is already more than fair and should remain in place. - Eric

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[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] No
by Justin Reynolds April 25, 2019

April 25, 2019

This isn’t a fair change as it will make access to domains much more difficult for the average person!

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[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] Public comment: reasons that price caps should not be removed from .ORG domain names
by David Spector - NSR/USA April 25, 2019

April 25, 2019

Hello. I own several .ORG domain names for my 501(c)(3) nonprofit registered charity, part of an international project to improve the world. We charge our clients the smallest possible fee for our course that improves many aspect of their lives, including anxiety and substance abuse, so we can reach everybody regardless of income. If the ICANN proposal to eliminate price caps goes into effect, and if the price for our domain names increases significantly, we would have no choice but to terminate our domain names. We cannot increase our course fee to clients to cover a large increase in price, since many of them would then not be able to afford to purchase our course. We have no donors to fall back on, as fundraising is not appropriate for an innovative educational service such as ours. Such a price increase would be a major hardship for us, since we ONLY use .ORG domain names to reach our clients through the Internet (websites and email). Domain names are currently one of the most expensive components for having an Internet presence. Even security certificates are currently available from at least two providers for a reasonable price (free). ICANN should help registries reduce their prices dramatically, not increase them. ICANN charges registries a small and reasonable overhead fee for each domain name. Why does it not ensure that registries do the same? Respectfully submitted as a public comment, David Spector Volunteer President, Natural Stress Relief/USA

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[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] Raising prices on .org
by Tanner's P.A.W.S. April 25, 2019

April 25, 2019

Raising the costs on .org domains will negatively affect nonprofit organizations who struggle to survive as it is. Nonprofits are always looking for reasonably priced and cost-effective ways to sustain. As an all volunteer animal rescue organization, this would negatively impact us in many ways. Please re-consider this decision. Sincerely, Christie Speciale, Founder Tanner’s P.A.W.S. Sent from my iPhone

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[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] Form Post from Firefox
by David Page April 25, 2019

April 25, 2019

utf8=? authenticity_token=5omLTH3/Pepg1Sch03besqKJrFSekTdH0elhZ3RKAWwC6/I95GyXPTMelH6g/DkCwKQ8ENDGnUvVpptV5vE8Cg== terms_of_services=yes commit=Continue Is ICANN's proposed removal of limitation on price-hikes of .org domains some sort of joke? What on Earth do you think that you're doing? The .org domain is specifically for non-profits and self-funders such as myself, and you allow the vendors to apply free-market thinking to that area while leaving the .com commercials unaffected. An act of gross stupidity to say the least... -- *************************************************** Dr. D. P. Page Researcher, Planetary Geology and Climates Page(a)PlanetaryGeology.org ***************************************************

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[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] Opposed to the provisions of the .org agreement
by James Young April 25, 2019

April 25, 2019

Dear ICANN, 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.

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[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] Removing price caps on .org domains
by James Gealy April 25, 2019

April 25, 2019

Greetings, I would like to express my concern with the proposal to allow unrestricted price increases of .org domains. These domains are used by non-profits and individuals such as myself to have a presence and voice on the internet. If we are priced out of these domains, the diversity and freedom of the the internet will suffer. Please do not allow that to happen. Regards, James Gealy

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