[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] Writing in opposition to the proposal

[David Pletcher]

I strongly oppose the unconscionable proposal allowing unbounded price increases for .org domain registration, via Section 2.10 of the .org renewal agreement.

ICANN grants a monopoly concession for management of the .org TLD. Organizations are deeply invested in their domains; they can not move their web sites and email systems to a new domain without disruptive loss of access to their collaborators and stakeholders. Verisign has not established a track record as a responsible corporate citizen focused on the public good over profits. This creates an opportunity for Verisign to hold myriad organizations hostage, charging unlimited fees to retain access to domains that they have actively used for decades. I anticipate that Verisign will engage in vicious price discovery, charging extortionate fees--and earning windfall profits completely disconnected from the tapering cost of doing business--depriving small organizations of their domains while sucking massive flows of donations away from program goals toward crony capitalist enrichment. Will WWF pay $1 million/month for their .org renewal while 10,000 small NGOs lose their websites to domain squatting crony-pals aligned with Verisign?

I reiterate that domain name registration is a monopoly concession. Monopolies are always subject to regulation, for good reason. Should we allow the gas company increase prices by a factor of 1000 during a bitter cold snap? Should we allow the water company to charge $10/gallon for piped drinking water? No, absolutely not.

This is a shameful and corrupt proposal. I censure this testament of indifference to the needs of end users in favor of selfish proposals seeded by rent-seeking crony capitalists. I am on notice that ICANN has been captured by the cartel, and holds the  public in contempt.

Regards,
David Pletcher
Sacramento, California