2006 August 30: That’s What Friends Are For
This past weekend was to be the weekend when I got caught up. The weekend when I finally mailed out all contracts to writers eagerly awaiting them. The weekend when I would catch up on pending submissions and queries. The weekend when I would schedule some long overdue stories.
The opportune word here is was.
Late Friday, or perhaps it was Saturday morning–it’s all a haze now, I learned of a huge blunder a certain organization was about to make. An organization that is supposed to be acting in the public interest, in the best interests of everyone.
That blunder that would be a huge cash cow to some big companies already making a pretty penny, but potentially devastating to everyone else.
I am, of course, speaking of ICANN.
You may never have heard of ICANN, but they play a major role in the operation of the Internet. In particular, they oversee things that relate to domain names.
ICANN has proposed new agreements with the registries that handle the .BIZ, .INFO and .ORG gTLDs. In addition to a couple other worrisome provisions, the new agreements lift all price controls over these gTLD domain names. Without any controls over pricing, these registries could raise prices without any price caps. They could even charge based on the perceived value of specific domain names.
That would set a dangerous precedent for future registry agreements as well, such as for the .COM and .NET gTLDs.
Bear in mind that these are the registries, not registrars. You have your choice of registrars. If one charges too much, you are free to go to another.
But, with the registries, you have no options. Each has a monopoly over its gTLD domain space. (All registrars go through the same registries–there is only one registry per gTLD.) So, if you want (or want to keep!) a .BIZ domain name, you don't have any choice. The registry could say that your domain name will cost $500 per year. Then, the registrars would add their upcharge, so your only choice might be a registrar charging $508.95 and a registrar charging $534.99 for your domain name.
On top of that, ICANN seemingly did little to notify anyone about the change. Most people did not find out about it until Friday afternoon or later. The problem is, the deadline for public comment was 5:00 p.m. PST on Monday, August 28th!
But, once people heard (largely due to an individual by the name of George Kirikos–yes, one man can make a difference!), the flow of public comments came in. Hundreds of messages came were posted in opposition to the proposed agreements. Only a handful of messages supported them–two of them from other registries!
So, my weekend (and part of Monday) was spent researching and writing my letters. And then I worked on putting together a reference list to assist others in writing their own messages.
It remains to be seen whether ICANN will listen to the staggering amount of opposition. Their meeting to decide on the agreements will not be held until mid-September.
Now, I am tired... But, I have my fingers crossed for this weekend being the weekend I get caught up.
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