[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] De-Regulation of legacy gTLDs

[Zachary Schimke]

As a domain name registrant, I am very upset that ICANN would even
consider removing price protections from legacy gTLDs such as .org in
what can only be described as catering to the for-profit registries.

Legacy gTLDs are fundamentally different from the new
vanity/for-profit gTLDs. They are a public trust, unlike these new
gTLDs which were created by private interests. Registrants of legacy
TLDs are entitled to price stability and predictability, and should
not be subject to large price fluctuations.


Take for example the .org TLD, it is one of the most widely used and
recognized TLDs. Used most commonly by non-profit organizations who
are the most vulnerable to the loss of price caps. If these caps are
removed, registration and renewal of these domains may become
uneconomical, forcing many important organizations to change their
addresses and threatening the prominence of .org. Allowing the sole
registry operator (PIR) to set their own prices without adequate
oversight would, in essence, allow them to directly line their
pockets.

As others have done, I'll post some quotes from ICANN's own website:

"ICANN is a not-for-profit public-benefit corporation with participants
from all over the world dedicated to keeping the Internet secure, stable
and interoperable."

ICANN is supposed to operate for the public benefit. While this change
might be beneficial for a small few, it would certainly not be for a
majority of these gTLD domain registrants.  There are no protections
for them. There is no "public benefit" justification to these changes.
It is just a handout to business at the expense of registrants’ rights
and protections.

Do not allow this to happen. Protect legacy gTLDs from corporate greed
and keep our protections in place.

Respectfully,

Zach Schimke
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