[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] Comment on changes of pricing for .org domains

[Rob Schwartz]

Dear ICANN,

As the former owner of a .org domain, I want to make it clear that the
proposed removal of price limits on .org domains will have no positive
effects for customers. At best, it will increase the income provided to
PIR: but for what end? Is that end more justifiable than the ends pursued
by the .org domain owners, many of whom are non-profits?

Were the price to increase by any more than the current allowed 10% per
year, one of two things must happen for every non-profit:
- You would gain more funds from a specific non-profit, up until the point
where the damage to reputation/cost of switching web domains for the
non-profit becomes equal to the amount you charge for a .org domain.
- Or, a specific non-profit would simply switch to a new web domain that
does not require exorbitant fees. This will undercut the reputation of the
.org businesses: .org TLDs are a marker of reputation and trust. There will
also be confusion with regards to the customer base.

The proposed removal of price limits on .org domains seems to me to be a
cynical use of the relative non-transferability of web domains: ICANN has a
captive market of .org domain owners, which makes them relatively easy to
exploit. I find this to be a poor choice of action for ICANN, and I would
therefore recommend retaining the current 10% annual increase pricing
scheme.

Sincerely,
R. S.
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