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

[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] Proposed Renewal of .org Registry Agreement
by Evan Michael McClintock April 27, 2019

April 27, 2019

I am a .org 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? _______________________________________________________ Evan McClintock

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[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] Proposed Renewal of .org Registry Agreement
by Loren Kallevig April 27, 2019

April 27, 2019

I am the CFO of a .org registrant (not-for-profit). The International Institute of Sustainable Transportation 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] Strong plea from a struggling non-profit org.: continue .org price protection
by Jean April 27, 2019

April 27, 2019

Dear ICANN directors, Your proposal to discontinue price protection for the .org domain will affect many, many non profit groups who struggle to survive in the current unfriendly business climate for non profits. I am a director of Ensemble Soleil, a internationally-renowned performing music ensemble (www.esoleil.org) founded in 1995 with a website built shortly thereafter. We have been a 501(c)3 charity since 1997, and since we perform Baroque and Renaissance music on original instruments, our audience and our pool of performers are spread widely across the US, Canada and some of our guest artists go back and forth to Europe. The website is a very key part of our framework, both for concert information and communications. It would be a severe hardship on our organization to pay higher website fees, since our financial supporters already bear a heavy burden since corporate funding dropped sharply after the mid 2000s. I implore you to reconsider opening the door to high domain fees for the .org domain since it will effectively destroy the majority of funding for small organizations such as ours. Thank you for allowing me to submit this information for your consideration. Jean S. Twombly Artistic Director and Treasurer Ensemble Soleil EIN 04-3371033

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[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] Price caps for .org
by Ruth Ivimey-Cook April 27, 2019

April 27, 2019

I understand from a recent report that you are planning to lift price caps imposed on the operators of the .org TLD. Given that the operator is a monopoly provider of names used by millions of individuals and organisations around the world, the potential for market abuse should price controls be removed is extreme. I therefore request that such caps are retained in full and, if anything, the renewal price is reduced over time - as would be the case in a properly operating market subject to significant economies of scale and automation. This should of course also be the case for other TLDs in the same situation. Regards, Ruth Ivimey-Cook Owner, ivimey.org

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[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] removal of price caps
by Lynn Ramey April 27, 2019

April 27, 2019

I am the director of a non-profit research project with a registered .org domain. As the use of .org TLDs is common to non-profits which serve a social good but with limited resources I am opposed to the change to ICANN regulations which would remove “the price cap provisions in the current .org agreement”. Such a change would significantly harm the ability of non-profit organizations to use .org domains which has long been an established practice. -- *Lynn Ramey | Professor of French | Vanderbilt University* *Chair, Department of French and Italian* email <lynn.ramey(a)vanderbilt.edu> | 615.322.6900 | website <http://my.vanderbilt.edu/lynnramey/> http://globalmiddleages.org/

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[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] Proposed Renewal of .org Registry Agreement
by Faruk Yavuz April 27, 2019

April 27, 2019

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[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] . org and other top level domsins
by Robin Cook April 27, 2019

April 27, 2019

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[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] Keep the cap on fees
by Frasier Linde April 27, 2019

April 27, 2019

Please do not remove the cap on registration fees. We need to keep the internet as level a playing field as possible so that anyone can participate. Sincerely Frasier Linde

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[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] Keep Price Cap for ORG domains
by Victor Pate April 27, 2019

April 27, 2019

Please do not remove the price cap for the ORG domain suffix. If the price cap were removed, the ORG suffix pricing would inevitably increase to the level of the most popular ones of the various vanity domain suffixes that have been introduced. Avoid this outcome, and keep the price cap intact. -Victor

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[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] Proposed Renewal of .org Registry Agreement
by Lev Veyde April 27, 2019

April 27, 2019

Hi, I’m writing to let you know that like many others, I also OBJECT to the terms of the new .org registry agreement. And like many others who voiced their concern before me - my main concern is related to the removal of price caps for the org TLD, but I would voice the same concerns for other TLD’s as well. Since .org is typically used for non-profits and the like, removing the price cap would be especially detrimental. It’s rare that deregulation of price ceilings leads to lower prices for consumers. Having a monopoly service provider without having regulated price cap is a known path to having the price spiral out of the control. Thanks in advance, Lev Veyde.

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