[Comments-com-amendment-3-03jan20] Proposed Amendment 3 to the .COM Registry Agreement

[Jeremy Warren]

Hello,

 

                I would just like to weigh in on the proposed amendment by
saying that allowing Verisign to raise fees of 7% year on year for the
period 2020-2023, and again from 2026-2029. Although Verisign has pledged to
provide ICANN with $20 million, there is a complete lack of transparency of
how the money will be used, and furthermore, how much Verisign will stand to
profit from the exchange in return.  In essence, as a .com domain name
holder, I see absolutely no benefit to this plan at all.  Don't get me
wrong, I have no problem with fees increasing to keep pace with inflation,
support innovation, and to benefit the internet community. However, the 7%
price hike is not aligned with inflation (being over 3.5 times the 2019 US
inflation rate of 1.81%), nor, as mentioned before, any clear reason for the
hike.

                Unfortunately, the only clear outcome I can see for this
move is negative press, and decreased confidence of the internet community
in general in ICANN's position and capability to independently and
competently manage the domain names for which it is currently responsible.
This loss of confidence would be a serious loss for the internet community
as a whole, and most certainly outweigh any short-term benefits gained from
the $20 million promised by Verisign.

 

Cordially,

 

Jeremy Warren

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