[Comments-org-renewal-18mar19] .Org Price Increases

[CCIN]

I am not an owner of a large portfolio and have but a few .org domain
names. I’m of the mind that ICANN should not be a regulator of price
and that competitiveness should dictate value. That being said, domain
names and their relevance in general have been diminishing over the
years for a variety of reasons. I have somewhat a sacrosanct opinion
of what domain names are to people and their future. ICANN's mandate
should not only protect the DNS, but also harmonize with a mission for
individuals to create leverage and find protections in their
commitment to this virtual experiment which ICANN oversees. As a
bottom-up organization, it must look out for the greater good of its
basic participants. Incremental price increases could give registrars
and registries a profit incentive while, at the same time, preventing
the undermining of individual portfolio holders.

As an objective observer-these are tough times for domain owners to
breathe life into their names. They need some help and appreciation
from ICANN as their options are being chipped away.

Lastly, I fear that while domain name ownership is growing, that the
impulse to buy them may simply be that buyers are hedging their bets
for the future. While the past DNS had made that abundantly clear,
there is an approaching universe of platforms that are creating their
own connectivity platforms that will eventually undermine domains
names, delegate the internet back to IP for the vast majority, and
name branding to but a few.

Michael Castello
CEO/President
Castello Cities Internet Network, Inc.
http://www.ccin.com
michael at ccin.com