Company asks ICANN to reconsider its decision to remove price caps on some legacy top level domains.
One of the largest ICANN-accredited domain name registrars has filed a Reconsideration Request (pdf) with ICANN over its decision to remove price caps in its renewed contracts for .org and .info domain names.
Namecheap filed the request as a party that will be adversely affected by uncontrolled price increases. It also says it’s filing on behalf of domain registrants.
The complaint outlines what many people have already stated: removing price caps from legacy TLDs adds extreme uncertainty to domain registrants, switching costs for domains are high, and ICANN seemingly ignored public input. The company wrote:
Namecheap is submitting this reconsideration request to protect the rights and interests of Namecheap’s customers and the entire internet community. Price caps for legacy TLDs have been an integral longstanding foundation for the domain name marketplace, and removing them will result in uncertainty and confusion at a minimum, and in the worst case, increased costs for domain registrants worldwide.
I suspect that legal action or an antitrust lawsuit will be required to get ICANN to actually reverse course.
Based on the timing of the filing, it’s possible that ICANN’s board will have to vote on the Board Accountability Mechanism Committee’s recommendation on the request at the end of the ICANN meeting in Montreal this November. I’m sure the price hikes will be a big discussion during that meeting.
GREAT !
Way to go NameCheap.
All registrars should join NameCheap in this fight !
Yes, big kudos to NameCheap for doing this.
There is so much more at stake with this, so much more than what we normally think about specific to this industry.
It’s similar to Net Neutrality and other monumental issues like that.
Freedom of speech, freedom of communication, freedom of the press, publishing, journalism, you name it.
Are you a cretinous person who doesn’t care about such things and only cares about money and wealth?
Freedom of commerce, trade, entrepreneurship, the simple ability and opportunity of the common citizens of the world to engage in business and commerce in an affordable way in order to support themselves and their families and merely even seek to make a living. The same freedom and opportunity everyone else in the developed world has enjoyed until now – AND WHICH HAS SO GREATLY ENRICHED AND BENEFITED THE ENTIRE WORLD – all of us.
Freedom and opportunity to innovate in ways potentially greatly beneficial to everyone – starting affordably.
AND TO BEGIN WITH:
It’s not about non-profits, though clearly the issues around that vis-a-vis .org are nothing less than obscene and kafkaesque and important.
The starting point is that legacy TLDs are a PUBLIC TRUST, not a corporate oligarch owned resource. People have always relied on that, at great investment and expense of time, money and “life” – AS THEY SHOULD have always been and always be able to. In essence, they are also a public utility, whose management is merely entrusted to others as stewards.
The purported “justification” for removal of the price caps is pure disingenuous propaganda BS, and any 12 year old can see it. As far as I’ve seen, it boils down to two points:
1. Conformity of contracts: is it even humanly possible to come up with more extreme BS than that? Is it? As if it is somehow “inhuman” to expect an organization to maintain more than one type of contract? When the truth about reality is that legacy TLDs are categorically different from new OWNED gTLDs?
2. “Maturation and maturity”: okay, maybe it is possible to come up with more extreme BS than point #1, because that is what that is. Does it even get any more absurd that that? Does it even need explaining? Better yet – how about if whoever came up with that nonsense tried to explain it.
Listen to this podcast discussion. It will give you a good starting point for important insight into “everything” whether you are still shaking your head wondering what the “f” just even happened and how could it even have happened, and even if you are not:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBl_KJ5-14E
Also, if you qualify in the category of “human,” then you should consider this “required reading” for yourself:
https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2019/07/23/the-just-world-fallacy-why-people-bash-assange-and-defend-power/
You should read it in light of how it applies to this situation.
This blogger, though flawed and imperfect like all of us, is one of the greatest truth tellers of our time. Not for the feint of heart, or those who wish to remain in the Matrix.
Huh?
?
Way to go NameCheap (Richard).
All other registrars (GoDaddy, eNom, Tucows…), WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR ?
I agree. Now GoDaddy has their own portfolios that they have paid millions and millions of dollars for, I would expect them to care.
This puts everyone at the mercy of the registry with no viable alternative and could destroy their business model both when it comes to their portfolio and just to the number of domain registrations in general
The legacy extensions are not like new TLDs. The extensions are not owned by the registry. They are just allowed to operate them under contract. Technology should be driving these prices down, not up. If these extensions were put out for competitive bids the prices would go down drastically.
You know they are coming for .COM next also. ICANN’s actions are against their original charter and out of line with a multi-stakeholder model. It puts one stakeholder above all others with no valid justification or debate.
Brad
Thanks Namecheap for your willingness to stand up and question this sorry state of affairs while others remain woefully silent.
I agree, kudos to NameCheap for taking this action!
As the letter states and suggest, if “the public comment process is basically a sham”, what faith do we have that ICANN cares about reconsideration requests? I, for one, have no faith they will take any corrective measures. It goes against having one unified contract, which is what ICANN ultimately wants and is easiest for them.
It’s about time somebody showed up speaking sense like you. They have already showed their true colors with regard to whether any “good faith” exists or can be expected. But it’s still good that NameCheap did this.
Also see my comment here:
https://onlinedomain.com/2019/07/03/domain-name-news/ica-asks-icann-for-explanation-of-org-decision/#comment-372801