[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] Proposed price increases

[Julia Corbett]

To whom it may concern,

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

You made these changes in secret, without consulting or incorporating
feedback from the ICANN community or Internet users.

You have a history of making similar deals behind closed doors, and also of
ignoring unified opposition against such action.

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.

Alongside these contract changes, Verisign agreed to pay you an additional
$20 million dollars over five years to support ICANN's domain name system
initiatives, without any clarity about how ICANN will spend the money, or
who will ensure that the funds are properly spent on domain infrastructure.

These changes will have significant impact on the Internet for years to
come, and only ICANN and Verisign have participated in this decision.

This is a greedy and unnecessary action that will continue and increase
discrimination against small companies and start-ups trying to get a
foothold in competitive industries. It is being done in bad faith.

In so-doing, you are contributing to a less fair and a less equitable world
in which those who have money can make much more money, while those who
don't have money have a much more difficult time staying afloat and
surviving.

I urge ICANN to reconsider this move and improve their business ethics.

Best regards,

Julia Corbett
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