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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Dear ICANN, <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">First, I am writing on my own behalf, and
<b>not</b> on behalf of my employer, even though it impacts all of us.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">As I read and considered the implications of the sad news that you are considering accepting (or have accepted, really) what’s essentially a back-room,
<i>private</i> <i>benefit</i> deal with VeriSign for ~$20,000,000 USD, my heart sank.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">VeriSign and its owners, has deeply profited over the years from a unique position within the Internet. And it is an organization who—if not for such a unique position—would have long ago collapsed under the
weight of its own hubris, poor service, high costs, and inefficiency.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">ICANN claims to be a “…</span><i>not-for-profit</i>
<b>public-benefit</b> corporation…” and this move is anything but a <i>public</i> benefit. I have worked with non-profits before, and understand that money for organizations like ICANN is scarce, scrapping for resources and territory is rampant, and the deal
with VeriSign is very… tempting.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">ICANN claims that “<i>the idea is that Internet governance should mimic the structure of the Internet itself- borderless and open to all</i>”—but especially without greater transparency and
<b>essential</b> (and very public) <b>protections and boundaries in place</b> in deals like this—especially .COM TLD price increase limitations… creates an environment that is NOT open to all. And this deal was NOT in the open, its details clearly NOT open
to all, so this is a violation of the trust which we have given to—and our public charter with—ICANN.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I, for one, have had enough. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Administration of the .COM TLD is already a license to print money, and that cost is already far too great!
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But VeriSign’s (and apparently, ICANN’s) greed is insatiable!<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>I’m “small potatoes” (as we say in the USA,) with only 10 or so .COM URLs, and over time, the .COM cost is already far too great—even though I utilize a low-cost registrar!<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>However, should this continue, I will be forced to move my remaining TLD’s to non-.COM TLD’s, and the business impact be damned!<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>The value of .COM is already slipping, and over the next few years, if this continues, it will simply fade in importance
<i>even faster.<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">I sincerely hope you will change your mind.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Kind Regards,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">David Schofield<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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