[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] .org pricing

[Douglas Lovell]

Regarding removal of a price cap for .org domains.

ICANN has a charter to keep domain name access fair and equitable.
Granting a monopoly to PIR for .org domains, that they may manage them,
is only equitable if they are held to equitable pricing. Regardless of
their non-profit status, with a monopoly, there is no price control.

At the same time, PIR needs to be able to charge enough to cover its
costs. Uncertainties in forecasting costs for a contract period-- prices
of energy, labor, and equipment for example --certainly make an open
pricing grant attractive. Other things, such as management salaries and
efficiency of operation, are more under their control.

To maintain efficiency of the market, ICANN cannot both grant a monopoly
and grant open pricing. It must make the qualifications for providers of
the service open enough that more than one provider can meet them and
- accept fixed-price bids for service from subjectively qualified
providers, and use a selection formula that includes price before
granting the monopoly, or
- enable multiple providers (more than two, preferably) to offer service
with open pricing, so that competition can set the price.

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