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

[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] leave caps as they are
by Judith Ross April 28, 2019

April 28, 2019

It is my understanding that you propose to remove the caps on price increases for .org, .info, and .biz top level domains. Let me urge you to reconsider this. Namecheap and other similar providers of .org domain names are different from those who run the newer domains. Namecheap is more a service provider than the actual user, as is the case with the newer domains. Taking caps off of what registries like PIR can charge them will ultimately lead to these increases being passed on to consumers like myself. Those of us using .org domains need the predictability and stability of the current caps on price increases. Please do not remove caps on price increases when you renew the .org Registry contracts.

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[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] Don't change the pricing policy for .org domains
by Jeremy Carlson April 28, 2019

April 28, 2019

Non profit organizations, for the most part, offer the world tremendous value in what they do. Removing limits on pricing increases for domain names may provide value to domain name registries, but unless sufficient need is proven, this appears to be a step in entirely the wrong direction. The current policy of allowing up to 10% increase in .org wholesale pricing each year should be maintained. Best, Jeremy Carlson

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[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] Against the unlimited price increase
by catchem all April 28, 2019

April 28, 2019

Dear so called "professionals" .orgs do not have that kind of money that will happen if you allow unlimited price increase, thus you hurt the good that those domains can do please do not allow this to happen please do not make more mistakes like in the past. The internet has gone downhill and free speech and support for people with disabilities is getting harder everyday if you value privacy. Those organizations need to be able to keep their online presence. And it will hurt the small ones - you know those who actually can make a difference for the better in peoples lives.. hoping you are not greedy bastards -Chris

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[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] Do not remove the price cap on .org domain names.
by thomas astles April 28, 2019

April 28, 2019

Do not remove the price cap on .org domain names. It is a financial burden that organizations should not have to carry as time goes on. Thomas Astles TNT Lavage de Vitres Window Washing 450-330-0687 Cell 450-263-1133 Bureau Thomas_Astles(a)yahoo.ca

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[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] Proposed Renewal of .org Registry Agreement
by Jarrod Janssen April 28, 2019

April 28, 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?

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[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] .org renewal
by Shane Tews April 28, 2019

April 28, 2019

After many years of negotiations between ICANN multistakeholder participants, including governments and the technical community, the new gTLD baseline contracts are being adopted by some of the original legacy TLDs as seen with.tel, .mobi, .jobs, .travel, .cat, and .pro. These baseline contracts allow competition and innovation in the domain name space while featuring more security and control mechanisms. Wide adoption brings more domain names into the legal framework that adheres to the guidance brought forward from the ICANN community’s work regarding TLD development and market growth. It is important to have solid, well-provisioned, registries as part of the multistakeholder systems that maintain the internet infrastructure’s functionality. Now that the contract for .org is up for renewal the Public Interest Registry that manages .org has agreed to move to the new contractual obligations is a great step forward for one of the last legacy TLDs. This is a major step forward in the TLD space for trademark and intellectual property rights holders to help protect their creative works online through new protections designed to proactively and reactively protect specific names from infringement as they enter the domain name portfolio. The new gTLD contracts ensure that registry operator of these new TLDs are using the tools created by the multistakeholder community to protect the trademark and intellectual property holders’ rights through the Rights Protection Mechanism when leasing a domain name or inquiring about a potential infringer. Having more TLDs under the new contract means more companies are beholden to the protection tools created through the new TLD process, such as the Uniform Rapid Suspension system and Post-Delegation Dispute Resolution procedures that were not part of the original ICANN contracting process. Increased competition and choice has been a major benefit for consumers in the TLD market. Moving the .org legacy TLD to a new TLD contractual agreement is also an opportunity to move to more market-based pricing in the domain name space and away from arbitrary price caps. As Makan Delrahim, head of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, recently stated, antitrust is there to “support reducing regulation, by encouraging competitive markets that, as a result, require less government intervention.” While ICANN is not a regulator, it has had its contracts reviewed by the DOJ’s antitrust division, which concluded that only .com had market power in the domain space. Allowing .org and future domain names to move to market-based pricing makes sense with today’s healthy TLD market, which is populated with many choices for consumers to choose from. The .org domain name is well known as one of the first TLDs in the market available for public registration, but it still only holds 5.5 percent market share, with just over 10 million names in the .org space compared to almost 140 million domain names and 75 percent market share for .com. As technology platforms are challenged to be more responsible for content by numerous governments, many lessons can be learned from the ICANN multistakeholder process and the maturation process of registering domain names. Today’s system has more effective best practices, guidelines, and tools to protect and take down names as part of a responsible community. Not all players in the space participate, but the responsible parties that do are well regarded for their efforts. ICANN and the ICANN community have become a central player for creating a more responsible process for the entire domain name ecosystem with registry agreements, accredited registrar agreements, registrant agreements, and an effort working toward a more responsible third-party reseller relationship. Shane Tews President of Logan Circle Strategies & Visiting Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute

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[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] Proposed Renewal of .org Registry Agreement
by Syamil Maulod April 28, 2019

April 28, 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. Syamil Maulod

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[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] ICANN policy change
by Design ICU April 28, 2019

April 28, 2019

To whom it concerns: Please keep domain name pricing low to ensure everyone can have access. Removing the current price increase caps will ensure the gouging of ordinary people, and increase already divisive social and economic disparities. Thank you, Sean Sean O'Dwyer Design ICU 11 Warren Street Kingston, NY 12401 (845) 514-4495 http://www.designicu.com/

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[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] Deep concerns about lifting .org registration price cap.
by Lech Perczak April 28, 2019

April 28, 2019

Hello, As current board member of Wrocław Hackerspace, I have to express a deep concern on the proposed change. hswro.org was the "home" of our organization since the very beginning, on which all our infrastructure and reputation relies. By giving up the price constraints on .org domains, renewal prices may rise sharply, as .org registry (PIR) is de facto a monopoly, and can dictate the prices. As NGOs typically have limited budget (like our local hackerspace), they may effectively be forced to change the domain, which contrary to your idea, isn't painless process, as domain name is a very important part of the organization's reputation. Rebranding is a very painful process. You suggested that Red Cross might migrate from "redcross.org" to "redcross.info". The effort invested into current domain is enormous, and migrating into another TLD would mean a huge campain to make people know the new location. This includes rebuilding reputation in search engines from scratch. Many non-profit organizations hosted in .org simply do not have money to do that, and sharp price increase is likely to hit their budgets, given that trustee maintaining the prices has given up, totally failing its function. This is a very real concern, since each gTLD registry is effectively a monopoly, and can dictate the prices. You cannot register a domain in one TLD by means of other registry, you have to adhere to their rules, or register your domain in another TLD. Even the organizations who have maxed out their domains validity in time will be hit by this change in the future, as they will eventually have to renew the domain. Being an non-profit organization yourself, I hope you can put yourselves in the shoes of smaller organizations, and maintain the trustee function of legacy TLDs. With kind regards, Lech

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[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] Please don't remove the 10% cap
by DaveTaylor April 28, 2019

April 28, 2019

It is really important that there is a cap on price increases every year as removing one has the potential to really hurt consumers of those domains. Please keep the internet affordable to all and not big corporations. Kind Regards Dave Taylor

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