Could we send a statement to the board...

We certainly could. But could I suggest that if you are (and others) are changing the discussion that we are having, that you change the SUBJECT line as well? The current thread has nothing to do with domain tasting. Alan At 08/07/2007 06:53 PM, Michael Maranda wrote:

Some have argued the increase was trivial, given people's intuition of adjustments for inflation, etc., and also with a sense that prices were stable for a period (after the initial decline). As you would gather from my prior post, its pretty much nonsense (computing and teleconnectivity costs should be going down, down down).

The material on price increases well in advance of the actual increase taking effect is disgusting and disturbing. They appear to be taking a page from the Oil cartels.

Again, referencing the gentleman from Tucows... exclusive contracts were won in part by expectations of price decreases.

At-Large should have some strong words on this matter for the Board of Directors, however, there is a sense that we are supposed to build up our credibility through "productivity" first.

Could we send a statement to the board reporting these increases to the Internet Community, as Danny indicates, well in advance of the official date... and echoing the sentiment that good stewardship demands better?

On 7/8/07, Danny Younger <<mailto:dannyyounger@yahoo.com>dannyyounger@yahoo.com> wrote: Re: The small increase may seem trivial, but the principle is more important.

The price increase (which won't go into effect until October 15) is not trivial -- registrars are already raising their prices in anticipation of the price increase:

"AIT Domains says that under the promotion all domain names will cost $6.49 until July 6. However, due to recently announced price increases from ICANN, AIT Domains says it's being forced to raise its prices. Rates are currently scheduled to go up to $8.49 per registration year on July 9."

<http://www.thewhir.com/marketwatch/070307_AIT_Holds_Fourth_of_July_Special.cfm>http://www.thewhir.com/marketwatch/070307_AIT_Holds_Fourth_of_July_Special.cfm

What's more important than all of this is the issue of bad decision-making on the part of the unaccountable ICANN Board. The Internet community has no way of "throwing the bums out" because ICANN remains accountable to no one.

Until this problem is solved it really doesn't much matter what the community consensus is on the AGP or anything else... ICANN remains free to ignore the voice of the people.

Presently, ICANN profits from the consequences of domain tasting... the more names that are tasted, the more names that will eventually be registered as some of these names can successfully be monetized. Profits for the registries, profits for the registrars, profits for ICANN... there were about 16 million new registrations last year (a good chunk of them the direct result of tasting activities).

Don't expect to prevail on this issue without putting up a spectacular fight and screaming for action at every opportunity -- convincing a corporation to kill a lucrative cash cow can only be an uphill battle.

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