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

[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] .org price cap
by Joseph M. Newcomer April 24, 2019

April 24, 2019

.org is for nonprofits. Many nonprofits are small, local organizations with very limited budgets. They have allocated money to create their domain name. I did not see a requirement that all .org domains must raise prices uniformly, and therefore if a broker sees an opportunity to make a huge pile of money on a domain name, that broker is free to set the price to be, for example, a factor of ten higher. The wording suggests that existing .org domains are protected against being driven out by rapacious pricing, but it does not appear to protect future .org domains from becoming victims of unfair pricing changes. I think the entire idea of removing price protections for nonprofits seems to be solely to benefit for-profit entities. Has no one seen the irony here? Leave the .org pricing cap in place. Better still, make it the lesser of 10% and the current inflation rate. Nonprofits are protected entities in many ways, and this proposal is like saying, “Sure, you’re a nonprofit. But we will allow for-profit corporations to tax you for your domain name, and to tax you at arbitrary and unlimited rates, so tighten your belts, and let for-profit corporations drive you out of an Internet presence, or force you to divert resources that could be spent in the public interest be spent instead to make wealthy for-profits even wealthier.” I vote “NO!” to this proposal. Sent from my iPhone

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[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] .org price cap removal comments
by Andy April 24, 2019

April 24, 2019

I strongly oppose the removal of any price caps for .org domain registration fees. Price is already a barrier of entry to the web for many people, unless they want to buy a .icu or .biz or .xyz domain, all 3 of which have become synonymous with spam and malware sites. That doesn't leave many of us with much choice. And what of small non-profits? How can they continue to register .org domains with the possibility of high fees being levied? No, fee increase caps are good in this instance. The world wide web is (let me rephrase: originally it was supposed to be) about giving people unfettered access to information. Removing fee caps for .org domains does the exact opposite in my opinion and may be a detriment to small organizations and economically disadvantaged people. Thank You, Andy Forceno

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[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] Unlimited increase in .org domains fees
by karl April 24, 2019

April 24, 2019

I have a .org domain and I am appalled by the idea that corporate entities could use their massive wealth to crush smaller entities by using their money to push us out of the market.

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[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] Please don't raise fees for .org
by Glen Stewart April 24, 2019

April 24, 2019

I run a personal web site under .org which does not collect any money - it is not selling anything. I cannot afford to pay more for it than I already do. Please don't allow fees to increase! Thank you.

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[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] Legacy TLDs like .org are used by far too many non-profits
by Michal Pelszyk April 24, 2019

April 24, 2019

Please do not treat the long-present domains like .org or .info as commercial commodity. These domains are used by far too many non-profit organizations: tiny entities, small groups of people to exist on the Internet. Allowing for unrestricted price increases will be harmful to society at large by reducing the availability and recognition since some of those groups can not afford to compete with deep pocketed corporations. Kind regards Zack Kupracz

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[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] Removal of price caps from .org renewal is destructive and unnecessary
by Walt Hewitt April 24, 2019

April 24, 2019

There is no reason that domain registration should cost more. In fact price caps should be applied to all tld's! These costs should be minimal as the process is normally automated with flat and minimal associated overhead costs. The Internet is vital and roadblocks such as these are ill conceived. Please do not remove the cap. - Walter Hewitt

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[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] Proposed removal of .org gTLD fee increase cap
by Rob Crowther April 24, 2019

April 24, 2019

Hi, I run a small business which supports a series of ARM User Group Hackathons and Open Source. Your proposed changes are anticompetitive and would harm small businesses and charities in the market who might not be able to pay unlimited amounts for a .org gTLD to properly represent their non-profit efforts. I am not in support of your proposed changes and will continue donating money to the EFF and ACLU--instead of you--to fight these changes. Rob Crowther weilawei(a)ijsbeer.org http://ijsbeer.org (413) 387 - 8914

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[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] Proposed Renewal of .org Registry Agreement
by Paul Shaw April 24, 2019

April 24, 2019

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! Paul Shaw

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[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] In opposition to removing price limits on .org TLD
by Alex Stratoudakis April 24, 2019

April 24, 2019

I am a domain name 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! -- Alex Stratoudakis Programmer / R&D NETForge.gr

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[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] AGAINST unlimited fee increases
by George Ellenburg April 24, 2019

April 24, 2019

I would encourage ICANN to reconsider allowing unlimited fee increases for .ORG domains. .ORG domains are unique in that they are the *only* TLD specifically created originally for non-profit purposes. They are still regularly used today by non-profit, and public-interest organizations and services to provide a public benefit and presence on the Internet. It costs next to nothing to maintain the registration for a domain since registrations are simply records in a database. Unlimited fee increases are nothing more than a cash-grab for an industry with high margins and low expenses and for an industry that increasingly provides no added value other than simply "existing". I remember the days when registering a domain required filling out a template and Emailing Network Solutions, then mailing in a check for $70 ($35 per year, minimum of 2 years) and I welcomed the industry changes that brought automation that ultimately lowered the costs for everybody. If anything, the registration and stewardship of .ORG domains should be moved to a suitable non-profit. Thank you for your consideration. -- *George M. Ellenburg* george(a)ellenburg.email <mailto:george@ellenburg.email> GeorgeEllenburg.net <https://GeorgeEllenburg.net>

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