Get this to all domainers!!!
I'm writing this Monday morning to bring you news of an URGENT matter that affects everyone getting this note. ICANN is about to renew the .org, .biz, and .info registry contracts with a HUGE loophole to allow each registry to charge different scaled pricing on a per-domain basis. This means your best domains may very soon cost you thousands (or more) per year in renewal fees. We need your help to halt the approval of these contract proposals.
Everyone who owns a domain and cares about their value should post a comment THIS WEEKEND to:
http://www.icann.org/announcements/a...-2-28jul06.htm
Its easy: Just email your comments to each email address
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected]
and then approve the email links they respond with.
In typical ICANN fashion they make the comment period short and in the middle of summer. The comment period will remain open until 5:00 PM PDT, August 28, 2006. THAT'S THIS MONDAY - tomorrow! At that time the comments will be submitted to the ICANN Board of Directors for the Board to consider at its meeting on September 13, 2006.
If they can set "market prices" for .biz, .info, .org (ie. $500 or 1 million per year for cars.org or Google.org etc.. ), What is to stop Verisign from doing the same with .com/net in 2012? Differential pricing could run afoul of trademarks, intellectual property and tax economic growth. If a Registry charges a higher renewal fee for a trademarked domain, then is the Registry extorting value from someone's trademark? Are they infringing? I think people on both sides of the fence need to be concerned. Start asking, "Just how will the Registry set prices? Will the Registry infringe on YOUR trademark? " The Registry may even start asking itself, "Wow. Did not think of that. How will we avoid getting sued if we charge more to a trademark holder."
In addition these contracts do not specify how the Registry will set domain specific pricing. These contracts, therefore, do not rule out the possibility that the Registry could hold auctions for domains for your own website. You could find yourself having to bid to keep the name of your own website. ALL of your businesses could be in serious jeopardy. This is simply OUTRAGEOUS.
So we all have a vested interest in this not happening.
If you CHOOSE to remain silent the fallout will jeopardize all of our futures. I can't tell you in strong enough terms just how important and vital this is. I especially appeal to SPONSORS and REGISTRARS to help domainers.
IF you want to make this a success....the ONLY way imo is for NON DOMAINERS to get involved along with all domainers. Start writing your SPONSORS!! As domainers we should only support sponsors that support us!!!!! We NEED their help more than ever and again I appeal to all sponsors and registrars to make your voices heard.
We need your help. Please take a moment to read the comments others have posted, then create one of your own and mail it off.
http://forum.icann.org/lists/biz-tld-agreement
http://forum.icann.org/lists/info-tld-agreement
http://forum.icann.org/lists/org-tld-agreement
Below is a sample letter that one of our members has sent. It gives some good ideas and the consequences of staying silent. Please remember that the deadline is 5pm tomorrow. We all get to see who supports us and who does not. Please give this the weight it deserves. I just can't stress this enough and hope you folks will rally to the cause as it affects each and every one of us more than you can even imagine.
THANK YOU!!
Kevin
Sample #1
To the ICANN Board,
The proposed TLD Registry Renewal Contracts for .info, .biz, and .org domains have a seriously flawed component whereby a Registry will be able to set arbitrary rates without price caps at whatever the market will bear. This will create a financially devasting impact on the business models of millions of domain and web site owners worldwide.
The impact will be especially damaging to .org and .info domain owners and site operators who for the most part use .org and .info domains for non-profit, charitable organizations, and educational purposes.
Hundreds of billions of dollars have been invested into the core domain name infrasctructure of the Internet with the secured expectation that acquiring, owning and maintaining domains would always be affordable and make economic sense for a long term investment.
To enable and facilitate a way for registry's to financially exploit and gouge the marketplace would not only be a business tragedy, but it goes against the grain of all the base principles upon which the Internet was conceived. It would certainly deter new entrepreneurs from considering venturing onto the Net if there is no certainty what their site's URL location will be costing them each year they renew. And the vast multitude of current domain owners and web site operators would close up shop if their costs of doing business skyrocketed on every domain they own.
Even more importantly, this flaw would give an unfair economic advantage to individuals and corporations who have substantial capital resources who could outbid less fortunate and startup entrepreneurs with limited capital.
And inevitably, there would be a tidal wave of costly and time consuming lawsuits and litigation that ICANN itself would have to deal with from the millions of impacted domain owners.
Thus, I respectfully request that you reconsider and reconstruct the contracts and remove this no price caps clause completely.
Sample #2
I wish to express my profound concern that the proposed registry agreements for .org, .biz and .info do not prohibit predatory price rises by the registries. ICANN was entirely right to object to Verisign's SiteFinder service, and for all the right reasons, but appears not to have learned the obvious lesson: that registries can be motivated to do things that are not in registrants' interests. Given that reality, removal of price caps is likely to result in anticompetitive practices that seriously impact internet stakeholders. I hope that you will reconsider this aspect of the agreements.
Sample #3
In permitting even the theoretical hiking of fees for domain name renewals, ICANN is threatening nothing less than the democratic nature of the internet. As an individual, I have been using a .org domain for some years for a political and social blog website. The relatively low cost of renewing my domain name and hosting the site is extremely important to me. Operating such a site now feels like an extension of my free speech rights! I am counting on you not to do anything to erode that. Thank you.