- Joined
- May 17, 2002
- Messages
- 2,249
- Reaction score
- 66
If folks will remember, 2 years ago we succcesfully fought to ensure that .tv-style tiered pricing could not be brought into .com, via the proposed .biz/info/org contracts. See the threads at:
http://www.dnforum.com/f17/icann-co...not-forbidden-biz-info-org-thread-173714.html
http://www.dnforum.com/f17/critical-announcement-entire-domainer-community-thread-176535.html
http://www.dnforum.com/f17/icann-again-react-fast-thread-191102.html
However, ICANN is again putting registrants at risk. As I mentioned in an article 2 weeks ago at CircleID:
http://www.circleid.com/posts/20081024_verisign_tiered_domain_pricing_soon/
the new gTLD draft contracts remove all price restrictions, just like .biz/info/org tried to do. This means that, due to the "equal treatment" clause in .com, nothing would prevent VeriSign from insisting on the removal its price restrictions too, and in particular that could lead to .tv-style pricing, where for example Hotels.com would cost more to renew than thisisalongandcrappydomain.com. Indeed, without price controls, nothing would stop VeriSign from charging $30 million/yr for Hotels.com, $10 million/yr for Sex.com, $1 billion/yr for Google.com, and so on, destroying people's investments in their domain names and websites.
All the same arguments apply as before, and it's disturbing that ICANN once again is re-opening this issue. The composition of the ICANN Board has changed, too, so there's no guarantee that the Board will be motivated to not rubber-stamp the proposals of their staff.
The time to act is now!
Please spread the word, and post appropriate comments to the ICANN comments site at:
http://www.icann.org/en/topics/new-gtld-comments-en.htm
(either in the Full Guidebook section, or Module 5, or as I did, both)
Given that many registrars are hoping to become new gTLD operators themselves, don't count on them to fight this battle on your behalf --- you have to voice your concerns, and let others know that you don't want any terms in new gTLD contracts that could impact existing gTLDs like .com, when it comes to sacred things like uniform pricing for all domains.
There's only a few weeks left to comment, and registries are counting on your apathy to slip through yet another contract term that will allow them to gain directly at your expense. Don't let this happen!
http://www.dnforum.com/f17/icann-co...not-forbidden-biz-info-org-thread-173714.html
http://www.dnforum.com/f17/critical-announcement-entire-domainer-community-thread-176535.html
http://www.dnforum.com/f17/icann-again-react-fast-thread-191102.html
However, ICANN is again putting registrants at risk. As I mentioned in an article 2 weeks ago at CircleID:
http://www.circleid.com/posts/20081024_verisign_tiered_domain_pricing_soon/
the new gTLD draft contracts remove all price restrictions, just like .biz/info/org tried to do. This means that, due to the "equal treatment" clause in .com, nothing would prevent VeriSign from insisting on the removal its price restrictions too, and in particular that could lead to .tv-style pricing, where for example Hotels.com would cost more to renew than thisisalongandcrappydomain.com. Indeed, without price controls, nothing would stop VeriSign from charging $30 million/yr for Hotels.com, $10 million/yr for Sex.com, $1 billion/yr for Google.com, and so on, destroying people's investments in their domain names and websites.
All the same arguments apply as before, and it's disturbing that ICANN once again is re-opening this issue. The composition of the ICANN Board has changed, too, so there's no guarantee that the Board will be motivated to not rubber-stamp the proposals of their staff.
The time to act is now!
Please spread the word, and post appropriate comments to the ICANN comments site at:
http://www.icann.org/en/topics/new-gtld-comments-en.htm
(either in the Full Guidebook section, or Module 5, or as I did, both)
Given that many registrars are hoping to become new gTLD operators themselves, don't count on them to fight this battle on your behalf --- you have to voice your concerns, and let others know that you don't want any terms in new gTLD contracts that could impact existing gTLDs like .com, when it comes to sacred things like uniform pricing for all domains.
There's only a few weeks left to comment, and registries are counting on your apathy to slip through yet another contract term that will allow them to gain directly at your expense. Don't let this happen!
