A nasty attack by dot .COM Registry under contract, Verisign, attempts to point the finger at domain registrants, Registrars, and the Internet Commerce Association (ICA.)
In the process, it accuses domain Registrars that informed their customers of upcoming plans to raise the cost of .COM domains, such as NameCheap and Dynadot, of launching “coordinated campaigns” aimed at “distorting the facts.” GoDaddy also sent out notice to millions of its customers, but is not being targeted explicitly.
Verisign’s letter to ICANN goes as far as to refer to the almost 9,000 individual responses to the ICANN open comment period as a flood attack at the ICANN commenting platform!
The biggest joke of the Verisign letter is the rabid menace with which it attempts to paint domain investors in an intentionally unsavory light – the very same company that collects tens of millions of dollars in registration fees for domains that are legitimately owned!
You can’t have it both ways, Verisign.
If you believe that any company owning dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of domain names legitimately, is somehow hurting your business image, you need to refund the $7.85 dollar fee you collect from them, for each and every domain name, and refrain from collecting it.
Meanwhile, it seems that the linked organization “suffering” from massive spending on salaries and bonuses is ICANN – the very body that is failing to protect the public interest on domain names.
Investigative reporter, Kieren McCarthy, shared notes on failed ICANN promises:
“The company massively increased its spending: on salaries and bonuses but also on pretty much everything across the board. Meeting budgets jumped – and within that there were almost certainly a lot more luxury hotel rooms and very expensive meals etc “
ICANN has been under fire for not blocking the sale of .ORG operators, PIR, to Ethos Capital, a for-profit conglomerate. Before announcing the sale, ICANN approved new contracts with PIR uncapping all pricing.
Verisign is apparently licking its chops for the same reason, as price increase restrictions are being removed. The base cost of dot .COM domains will be raised from the current $7.85 dollars to as high as $10.26 dollars by the end of 2026. These numbers are not justified by the definition of reasonable operating cost for a domain Registry under contract to ICANN.
Right on. Thank you for telling things as they are.
If Verisign needs to raise their prices in order to manage .com why not require their contract to go out to bid to another more efficient vendor? There are plenty of other companies that would more than likely lower the price of a .Com, and provide the same level of service.