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

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

April 25, 2019

Dear Sirs, I respectfully make the following comments. I am a domain name 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. Yours sincerely, Chris Kreft

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[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] ICANN Price Caps
by Shada Williams April 25, 2019

April 25, 2019

Ladies and Gentlemen of ICANN, Please add the voice of The Purposed Hands Foundation, to those against the removal of price caps for .org domain names for non-profits. As a starting non-profit trying to get off the ground, there is not a lot of elasticity in our ability to absorb new cost. Losing the protection of a prudent policy such as the one maintained by ICANN for these many years can be a devastating blow to our organization. We already face many challenges. Our ability to communicate with our members through our .org domain remains our most powerful tool in providing content to our new members. A dramatic increase in cost could impair that important ability. ICANN should see the protection of non-profits as part of the important role that it plays in the system if “unique identifiers” on the internet. Non-profit entities are not advantaged in their ability to communicate compared to for-profit corporations and entities because caps are in place. Rather, the caps protect the existence of non-profits, particularly smaller ones, of which there are many. Just as governmental units recognize and accommodate differences in non-profit and for-profit entities, so should ICANN in their management and pricing of domain names. Non-profits in general and non-profit trade associations in particular, play vital roles in their members’ businesses and markets. Most members are for profit entities that grow because of the work of their non-profit associations. A change in the current cap policy would change the equation for so many non-profits that there would be an adverse effect, not just at the association level but in the value chain of multiple businesses. Thank you for your kind consideration. Respectively yours, Shadá Williams, B.A. The Purposed Hands Foundation

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[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] Proposed changes in price caps
by James D Burns April 25, 2019

April 25, 2019

I am not a reseller of domains, but just someone who feels strongly about certain issues that affect my way of life. I maintain several .org websites so that I can have a public forum to express my views. I am retired and on a fixed income, but am fighting cancer so my cost of staying alive is a problem. Please don't remove all limits to what it will cost me to keep my domains. It is important to me, and I don't want to lose something I care about so much.?? There's not much left to me. -James D Burns

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[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] SAA-SEM Opposes the terms of the proposed renewal of the .org registry agreement
by mharrison saa April 25, 2019

April 25, 2019

To whom it may concern: I am a .org registrant and an International Public Organization that is not for profit and gets its financing from International Cooperation programs Any policy that allows anybody to shut down an established organization's website is a bad decition for is a 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] Price increase
by Heidi Lindeman April 25, 2019

April 25, 2019

Increasing the price of domains to anything rather than by 10% is going to greatly affect consumers. An inexorable increase will likely lead to loss of consumers and will make lives of people like me much more challenging. As a new therapist I need a website that will work for me and help me attract clients. If my domain increase by 100 fold I will chose to go with a different website holder. I do hope you think about this decision and make a decision that is a win/win situation. Increase your price soo much will be a win/lose situation or maybe even a lose/lose situation. Keep increases only to 10% or less. Thank you, Heidi Lindeman Sent from my iPhone

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[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] Opposition to the changes proposed in the .org agreement renewal
by Chris Baxter April 25, 2019

April 25, 2019

Hi there, I am a .org registrant and a non-profit organisation. 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. Thanks for your kind attention to this matter. Best wishes, Chris Baxter

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[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] Against unlimited pricing increased
by Joshua Chaitin-Pollak April 25, 2019

April 25, 2019

Hello, I do not think PIR should be able to change pricing buy an unlimited amount .org domains are critical to many non-profit and small organizations and raising the pricings would hurt their mission and ability to advertise for themselves. This change would especially problematic for existing domain holders, who cannot easily change domain names or rebrand without significant expense.

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[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] Pricing for .org domain names
by Shlomo Vile April 25, 2019

April 25, 2019

I am protesting the proposed removal of the price cap on Pricing for .org domain names - (Section 2.10 of the .org renewal agreement) - which will place an additional financial burden on non-profit organizations such as ours. Do Not Remove the Price Cap. Sincerely, Stewart Vile Teach for Israel

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[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] .org Price cap removal.
by David Aschenmeier April 25, 2019

April 25, 2019

To whom it may concern, It has come to my attention that ICANN has proposed to remove any cap from the pricing of the .org domain. I register my protest to this move. This domain has been advertised for years as the domain of the non-profits, and that is why many charitable boards have approved selection of .org domains for their operation. Most non-profits, mine included, have very restricted budgets and if a dramatic increase to the maintenance cost of this domain should occur, many organizations would be adversely affected and that could also effect thousands of clients who are accustomed to the .org domain. These cliebts also associate thw.org domain with trustworthiness. Please do not remove the pricing cap for .org domains. Thank you, David Aschenmeier

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[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] .org price increase
by John H. April 25, 2019

April 25, 2019

Hello, I operate a small nonprofit organization and we rely on having a .org TLD. If you allow the price to increase greatly, you would be jeopardizing this entire operation which people depend on.

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