Comments on: Economist: ICANN Will Be Set Free This Month

By: Domain Name Wire » News » Is Paris a Model for New Internet Governance? Let’s Hope Not. - The Domain Industry's News Source

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 02:25:34 +0000

[...] the U.S. cedes more control of ICANN to foreign governments, many people are worried about what happens when censoring countries like [...]

By: Chris Beach

Chris Beach — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 22:31:11 +0000

..and the silence was deafening.

By: Domain Name Wire » News » ICANN To Announce New Governance Structure on Wednesday - The Domain Industry's News Source

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 18:42:33 +0000

[...] details are not available at this time, sources tell Domain Name Wire that The Economist’s article regarding an “Affirmation of Commitments” is a fair representation of the new [...]

By: Domain Name Wire » News » Reporters Without Borders: Keep the ICANN Status Quo - The Domain Industry's News Source

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 15:41:20 +0000

[...] Borders, based in France, may be in for disappointment. The Economist has reported that ICANN is close to a deal with the U.S. government to enter a new phase of governance with more foreign government [...]

By: Chris Beach

Chris Beach — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 00:10:40 +0000

@Steve – think of it this way – Let’s say I own a business selling labelmakers at Labelmakers.com, making $50,000 profit per year. A leading manufacturer, let’s say Brother, approaches me and offers $100,000 for my domain. I refuse, of course, as it’s worth more than two year’s revenue.

Brother then approach Verisign (a for-profit company) and offers them $100,000 for Labelmakers.com. That’s money for nothing for Verisign. When my renewal comes around I find the price per year is $100,000. I can’t pay and lose the domain. Verisign gets a “free” $100,000.

And that’s assuming they don’t simply auction it off to the highest bidder. And who’s going to stop them? ICANN?

By: Chris Beach

Chris Beach — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 00:02:29 +0000

@Steve – as Andrew pointed out above, this already happens in ccTLD extensions like .TV, and is the pricing model that some of the new GTLDs are proposing. So no, I’m not high. If the new GTLDs get approved, the existing GTLDs, through the level playing-field clauses in the registy agreements, will be able to ask for the removal of price caps and ICANN won’t be able (or willing?) to deny them.

By: Andrew Allemann

Andrew Allemann — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 16:24:37 +0000

@ Steve – that’s exactly what goes on in some of the ccTLDs, and effectively in newer TLDs.