ICANN Changes Fee Structure for .Biz, .Org, .Info

[DVTimes]

ICANN Changes Fee Structure for .Biz, .Org, .Info

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://xbiz.com/news_piece.php?id=16722

MARINA DEL REY, Calif. ? According to George Kirikos of CircleID.com, ICANN Chairman Vint Cerf has confirmed that proposed new registry agreements for the operation of the top-level domains .biz, .info and .org allow the companies that oversee those domains to employee an unregulated pricing format similar to that used for .TV.


On June 27, ICANN announced proposed agreements for the registries administering the domains. Language in the agreements indicated a departure from the established uniform pricing practice registrants had become accustomed to, which alarmed Kirikos, who set about trying to reach Cerf for comment.

?This is a markedly different approach from the fixed fee established in the 2001 .biz and .info registry agreements, and 2003 .org registry agreement, and is intended to appropriately scale the fees payable by each registry to ICANN to the success or decline of the registry business,? the proposed agreement reads in part.

Cerf confirmed to Kirikos, who said he fears the loophole would lead to an arbitrary pricing regime.

?I finally got the official word from Cerf, who confirmed that my interpretation is correct, that differential/tiered pricing on a domain-by-domain basis would not be forbidden under the .biz/info/org proposed contracts,? Kirikos said. ?This means that the registries could charge $100,000 per year for Sex.biz, $25,000 per year for Movies.org, etc.?

According to Cerf, it would be ?suicide? for a registry to change its prices because registrants are entitled to a six-month notice period for price changes, and they have the ability to register for 10 years at a time.
Countering Cerf?s ?suicide? argument, Kirikos hypothesized that the rule change would allow PIR, which administers .org, to simply set a renewal price of $1 billion per year for a domain such as Pussy.org.

?If it takes 10 years to do it, many would wait, and it would not be considered ?suicide? for PIR,? Kirikos said, adding that PIR could simply say they were protecting children from porn on the .org TLD by pricing objectionable content out of the market.

Kirikos also suggested that the contract loophole could be used as a political weapon, as well. But his greatest concern is that registry companies will become beholden to profit above all else.

While the changes do not affect the .com TLD, Kirikos said there would be no reason why VeriSign, the company that administers the TLD, would not seek similar contractual liberties in its next agreement in order to level hefty fees on popular domains.

[webair]

big news man thank you

[crockett]

Pretty fucked up that they can do that to names that have already been registared.

Sites like pussy.org are going get fucked over hard.

[Theo]

Kirikos is smart guy

of course he is greek ;-)

[DVTimes]

could be a real pain.

[spacedog]

that's fucking bullshit.. greedy fuckers!!

[Mike AI]

If this goes through, it will eventually effect .com and .net when the contract comes back up.

This should be stopped now. Send your opinions in to ICANN people now.

[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]

[DaddyHalbucks]

It's called changing the rules mid game.

[minusonebit]

Would be so much better if we just got rid of domains completely. Put everything back to IP addresses.

[Serge Litehead]

i wonder based on what they gonna decide price of a domain? lenth of a domain, traffic, popularity or google PR?

[pr0]

.tv domains have sure done great ::cough:: NOT!....sure why not adopt more policies to fuck over the internet

[Mike AI]

Originally Posted by DaddyHalbucks

It's called changing the rules mid game.

It's called creating an unregulated monopoly.

[DVTimes]

bump 4 thread

[dodo1]

Post your comments here by Monday, August 28:
icann.org/announcements/announcement-2-28jul06.htm

[DVTimes]

http://icann.org/announcements/annou...-2-28jul06.htm

On 27 June 2006, ICANN posted for public information proposed new registry agreements for the operation of each of the .BIZ, .INFO and .ORG registries. ICANN staff continued to work with each of the current operators of these registries to finalize these proposed agreements and appendices. On 18 July 2006, the ICANN Board of Directors approved the posting of each of these proposed agreements for public comment. A public comment period will remain open until 5:00 PM PDT/California, 28 August 2006. At that time the comments will be submitted to the Board of Directors for the Board to consider at its meeting on 13 September 2006.

Key terms for the proposed agreements, and differences from the 2001 .BIZ and .INFO registry agreements and 2003 .ORG registry agreement, include the following:

Term of New Agreements. The proposed .BIZ, .INFO and .ORG registry agreements provide for an initial six year term. Each of the proposed .BIZ and .INFO agreements would expire, absent renewal, at the end of December 2012, and the proposed .ORG agreement would expire at the end of June 2013, absent renewal.

Presumptive Renewal. The proposed new .BIZ, .INFO and .ORG registry agreements each provide for presumptive renewal, absent material and repeated breach of the agreement by the registry operator. This is consistent with each of the 2005 .NET registry agreement, and the proposed new .COM registry agreement. With respect to the terms of any subsequent agreement negotiated with the registry operators for the continued operation of the .BIZ. .INFO and .ORG registries, the proposed agreements provide that adaption of renewal terms will be via comparison to the five "most reasonably comparable" gTLDs, as compared to the "five largest gTLDs" language of the 2005 .NET agreement and the proposed new .COM agreement.

Lifting of Price Controls on Registry Services. Following extensive consideration and discussion, each of the proposed new .BIZ, .INFO and .ORG registry agreements provide for the lifting of price controls formerly imposed on the pricing of registry services. However, in order to protect incumbent domain name registrants and allow time for planning by those in the registry and registrar communities, the form of registry-registrar agreement proposed with each of the new registry agreements requires six months advance notice by the registry operator of any price increase in registry services. This is consistent with the notice period required under the registry-registrar agreement implemented with the 2005 .NET registry agreement, and the registry-registrar agreement included with the proposed new .COM registry agreement.

Fees Payable to ICANN. The proposed new .BIZ, .INFO and .ORG registry agreements provide for a sliding scale of transactional fees payable to ICANN per annual increment of a domain name, starting with $0.15 in 2007 and 2008, $0.20 in 2009 and 2010, and increasing to $0.25 in 2011 and 2012* (*the proposed new .ORG registry agreement has a fee schedule implementation date of July 2007, and will continue through June 2013). The per name transaction fees, however, are subject to adjustment depending on the average price of domain name registrations during each calendar quarter throughout the term of the agreement. Each of the proposed new agreements provide only for a transactional fee component payable to ICANN, with no fixed fee. This is a markedly different approach from the fixed fee established in the 2001 .BIZ and .INFO registry agreements, and 2003 .ORG registry agreement, and is intended to appropriately scale the fees payable by each registry to ICANN to the success or decline of the registry business.

Consensus Policy Implementation and Limitations. Each of the 2001 .BIZ and .INFO registry agreements, and the 2003 .ORG registry agreement, required each of the registry operators to comply with and implement established consensus and temporary policies, including as pertained to a list of enumerated topics. This list was updated for the 2005 .NET registry agreement, and the identical list has been incorporated into each of the proposed .BIZ, .INFO and .ORG registry agreements. In addition, each of the proposed new .BIZ, .INFO and .ORG registry agreements contains the same set of limitations on the adoption of consensus policies as the proposed new .COM registry agreement. This list of limitations is also identical to those limitations provided for in the 2005 .NET registry agreement, with the exception of the limitation on modification to the procedure for consideration of new registry services being limited to two years after the established effective date of the proposed .BIZ, .COM, .INFO and .ORG registry agreements, which is three years following the effective date of the 2005 .NET registry agreement.

Process for Approval of New Registry Services. The same set of procedures, steps, and requirements for the approval of proposed new registry services has been included in the proposed .BIZ, .INFO and .ORG registry agreements as previously seen in the 2005 .NET registry agreement, and the proposed .COM registry agreement.

Data Escrow Provisions. The security and functionality of the registry data escrow has been a significant focus in the new forms of registry agreements negotiated by ICANN since 2005. Accordingly, the requirements for data escrow by each of the registries, as well as the requirements for the relationship between registry operator and data escrow agent, have been expanded and clarified in the proposed new registry agreements.

Other Standardized Terms. Consistent with the proposed new .COM registry agreement, each of the proposed .BIZ, .INFO and .ORG registry agreements contains a Section 3.1(f) on the use for statistical purposes only of "traffic data." The 2005 .NET registry agreement did not contain this provision, however the inclusion of this provision was negotiated by each of the .BIZ, .INFO and .ORG registry operators to provide for consistency with the proposed new .COM registry agreement, although this does not imply that these registries will implement said provision.

[polish_aristocrat]

Originally Posted by minusonebit

Would be so much better if we just got rid of domains completely. Put everything back to IP addresses.

I'd be left with $500 per month sig income

[scottybuzz]

owwwwwwww

[Damian_Maxcash]

Im not sure I am reading that right - its VERY late here.

So they are saying that the CURRENT owner of a domain will be charged a "market" value decided by ICANN at the next renew date?

That cant be right.....

[free4porn]

Thats tight cos the owner plays a big part in making the domain have value, then get charged xtra for the privilage to renew it!? argg WTF!!

[GeorgeK]

Originally covered in the thread of a few days ago at:

http://www.gofuckyourself.com/showthread.php?t=647392

Deadline for comments is Monday. If you want to give the registries the ability to raise prices arbitrarily, just sit on your hands and say nothing. Don't whine later if they do it, and you had the chance to say something, but didn't.

[Bossman]

What is the maximum of years you can prepay for your .com, .net, .biz etc. domains?

[polish_aristocrat]

Originally Posted by damian2001

Im not sure I am reading that right - its VERY late here.

it's lunch time in London

[Damian_Maxcash]

Originally Posted by polish_aristocrat

it's lunch time in London

lol - I know and I havnt been to bed yet - That makes it late

or I suppose it could mean Im having a very early night tonight?

[GeorgeK]

Bossman: Up to 10 years from the present. I and others have been trying to push that to a longer term (e.g. 100 years), which would thereby give domain owners greater predictability and cost certainty, and reduce the power of abusive registries.

[Bossman]

Originally Posted by GeorgeK

Bossman: Up to 10 years from the present. I and others have been trying to push that to a longer term (e.g. 100 years), which would thereby give domain owners greater predictability and cost certainty, and reduce the power of abusive registries.

Thanks - 100 years sounds good... but when the british handed over Hong Kong to China, then it was a loss, not a gain




yeah - the internet will probably look alot different in 100 years

[Bossman]

Bump

[DVTimes]

could be a real pain.

[Matiz]

Comments sent to ICANN

[KRL]

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.

[shuki]

I can't believe this.

It is outrageous.

[Paul]

This is insane!

[DVTimes]

bump for today

[DVTimes]

bump for today

[Dirty Dane]

Originally Posted by minusonebit

Would be so much better if we just got rid of domains completely. Put everything back to IP addresses.

Sooner or later, computers - network - technology is so intelligent that there are no needs for domains. Make money on your domains now, do not park them

[woj]

Originally Posted by polish_aristocrat

I'd be left with $500 per month sig income

[RawAlex]

dot com could be next.

[DVTimes]

bump for today

[Klen]

America try to control the internet.

[DVTimes]

bump 4 today