[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] Why?

[Block,Jeremy Ethan]

I want to understand why this amendment is taking place.
The internet has become a staple (no, a utility) to life in the US. We all use the internet with limited understanding of how it works, and the majority of its users assume a website ends in ‘.com’. The internet hosts vast repositories of information and communities rely on the technology to share ideas and concerns around the planet in seconds. This kind of access is unprecedented and facilitated by the low barrier to getting a website up and running.
Sure, traditionally people needed a number of years to develop their skills in order to deploy a functional site, but this has become even easier with boilerplates and source code becoming freely available online. Most populations, particularly those on the fringes of society, are vulnerable to not knowing that the activation energy required to make their content available is increasing. Since no change this drastic happens in a vacuum, I’m willing to expect a ripple effect across the entire internet economy. By increasing the cost to maintain a common .com website, you are ensuring fewer people will be able to generate and maintain  the communities they’ve come to except.
The fact that this is done surreptitiously, is yet another concern. I did not realize the price of websites was inappropriate for maintaining the status quo, but if a change needed to be made I would expect it to be justified. Please elucidate what is expected to come with this price gouging technique. Will this extra cost dissolve the  technological understanding between those that build the internet and those that simply use it. Will the extra cost pay for speed increases for those populations that have yet to get online? What about the environmental impact the internet demands on the planet; will you make things more efficient?

Raising prices makes sense, but only if you have some justification! Please consider your reasoning and I hope to see this weighing made more clear in your amendment. I currently am not in support of this endeavor and hope you reconsider your options heavily.

Jeremy Block

Graduate Research Assistant
University of Florida