It is absolutely outrageous that ICANN is considering removing a price cap already set well above inflation for a service with next-to-no innovation that must cost less and less to run thanks to improving automation technology.
There is surely no reason that PIR, apparently earning $90 million a year from registrations on what is intended to be a gTLD for not-for-profits, could possibly justify needing a more than 10% price increase.
If the move is to milk more money from large companies then surely this is negated by the loss in smaller sales. If the aim is to reduce domain squatting then there are alternative approaches. If the move is to ruin the small and personal users of this popular gTLD then, well, mission accomplished. Either way it sounds like simply like a greedy money grab.
I strongly oppose ICANN’s proposition to remove price caps on domains. If anything I believe the contract should be revoked and control handed over to a not-for-profit company set-up to manage the .org and bill enough to cover their costs.
This move will set a very bad precedent for the domain market as a whole.