ICANN accused of taking bribe + .com price increase

seriesn

Last month, ICANN, the organization that oversees domain names, announced significant changes to the contract it has with Verisign, Inc. who operate the .COM top-level-domain (TLD).

ICANN made these changes in secret, without consulting or incorporating feedback from the ICANN community or Internet users. Although ICANN has a history of making similar deals behind closed doors, and also of ignoring unified opposition against such action, we are focused on leading the fight against price increases that will harm our customers (and the Internet as a whole). This is a crucial time to raise our voices given that .COM domains make up 40% of all registered domain names online.

Wholesale registries charge Namecheap a set fee per domain name per year. According to this new agreement, Verisign will be allowed to increase the wholesale price to registrars for .COM domains every year for 8 out of the next 10 years, and the increases don’t stop there.

This will mean that .COM wholesale domain prices can grow by more than 70% over and above current prices over the next decade. The contract also allows for other price increases, which could drive prices up further, ultimately making .COM domains less accessible and more expensive for everybody.

https://www.namecheap.com/blog/icann-allows-com-price-increases-gets-more-money/

deank

.Cum price increase talk has been in place for some time now.
Nothing they can do to stop it.

InceptionHosting

If there is big money there is big corruption, essentially legal bribery.

Nyr

Sad but expected. And I don't think there isn't much which can be done about it.

You could of course go complain at their next meeting in... Cancún, of all places.

billyw

@seriesn Thanks for the information. I wish I could say I was surprised but I knew it would be coming one day. Looks like I’ll be renewing my few domains for the max 10 years, while I can get them at the same price soon. ?

FreeBSD

@Nyr said:
Sad but expected. And I don't think there isn't much which can be done about it.

You can always get a domain from a different TLD.

Nyr

@FreeBSD said:

@Nyr said:
Sad but expected. And I don't think there isn't much which can be done about it.

You can always get a domain from a different TLD.

That's not viable if you have an established brand or service. And many of the alternatives are also managed by ICANN/VeriSign anyway.

dev

Looks like the maximum it could become is only around $10. That’s about 3 times cheaper than .io domains still.

vpsGOD

https://www.icann.org/public-comments/com-amendment-3-2020-01-03-en

lets file a comment to stay with price lock

BlaZe

Oh my! I gotta renew some of my domains to 10 years now

deank

All of .cum domains are on 10 years already.

Rabbit

@dev said:
Looks like the maximum it could become is only around $10. That’s about 3 times cheaper than .io domains still.

Yeah, try telling your customers mywebsite.io the first thing you hear is "a dot what?"

But I personally don't see the big issue here. $10 for a .com seems fine.

And who needs .com anyway when you can get .ovh for 99CENTS. Looks professional right? Lol

vyas

We have 15 odd .com domains with our registrars.

Factor in discount, savings in Paypal tax (paying in local currency) and tax savings makes no sense for us to leave just yet. We do 2 year renewals maybe will do 3 or 5 then assess.

A learned sage once said, (translated from हिंदी )
“If your child is a good kid, why worry?
Also if your child is a bad kid, why worry?”

Meaning- the good kid will keep doing good, and will prosper no matter. The bad one will pay for their crimes/ sins no matter.”

Similarly, if the business/domain survives and makes you good money after 3 years, $10 a year is hardly a cost.

If the domain continues to remain stagnant or bleed you, then $10 a year should be the least of your worries

deepak_leb

Someone pls say .co registrar to reduce their price !.
Anyway .com is damn way cheaper than .co

mobile

so how to make sure a TLD is not below this ICANN? is .moe safe from this?

bikegremlin

My long winded drivel on the topic:

https://io.bikegremlin.com/14869/com-price-hike/

Janevski

@Rabbit said: you can get .ovh for 99CENTS. Looks professional right? Lol

No.

seriesn

On another news, this would be a great time to invest in verisign stock.

WSS

@seriesn said:
On another news, this would be a great time to invest in verisign stock.

Corona will take care of that for us..

seriesn

@WSS said:

@seriesn said:
On another news, this would be a great time to invest in verisign stock.

Corona will take care of that for us..

Alibaba stock is a great option too

someshzade

Is it really true? WTF!