[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] Opposing the .com changes

[Millan Singh]

Hi.

I'm a registrant of a number of .com domains and someone very familiar with
how monopolies work. As the .com TLD is the largest TLD and most
recognizable by customers, it's imperative that there continue to be
competition among registrars that offer .com domains. I heard about this
change to the rules regarding .com domain names, and I want to strongly
urge ICANN to discontinue this deal. Not only is it undemocratic, having
been negotiated behind closed doors without any press, but the rules
changes are potentially EXTREMELY bad for registrants.

We already know there is an issue today with digital marketplaces finding
ways to compete directly against the things they're selling, and since
they're closer to the source with less middle-men involved, they can often
bully the original makers out of the market. This happens on Amazon.com all
the time and with other retailers as well. I bring this up, because the
changes proposed over how Verisign will be allowed to operate smell an
awful lot like this practice. Verisign, as effectively the digital
wholesaler/platform, should not, under any circumstances, be allowed to
create a registrar to compete directly with other registrars offering the
.com domains. This is a MASSIVE conflict of interest.

Further, while I understand the deal is likely very appealing to ICANN due
to the $25M in funding attached to it, I strongly urge ICANN to consider
the cost of that money. It's plainly a bribe to get ICANN to allow Verisign
to increase their prices (without any real justification) and engage in
monopolistic behavior.

In conclusion, following through on this proposal would be incredibly
harmful to the health of the internet and the ability for registrants like
myself to freely and affordably register .com domains from the registrants
of my choice. Please reject this proposal and find another way to gather
additional funding for ICANN.

Thanks you.
--
Millan Singh,

Polymath writer, designer, and developer. Webdev by day, practitioner of
the hero's journey by night.
My podcast: http://anchor.fm/spyfy
My website: https://millansingh.com/ <http://millansingh.com/>
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