[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] Verisign-ICANN contract

[Tom Elliot]

To whom it concerns,

I understand that last month, ICANN, the organization that oversees domain names, announced significant changes to the contract it has with Verisign, Inc. who operate the .COM top-level-domain (TLD).

ICANN made these changes in secret, without consulting or incorporating feedback from the ICANN community or Internet users. ICANN has a history of making similar deals behind closed doors, and also of ignoring unified opposition against such action. 

Wholesale registries charge 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 ICANN 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.

I hearby register my voice in protesting these changes to the Verisign-ICANN contract.

Respectfully,

Tom Elliot
Northwest Wines, Ltd
tom at northwestwinesltd.com
415-665-9013