VeriSign Can Raise .net Prices in 2007

miller60 writes "ICANN is lifting restrictions on VeriSign's pricing of .net domains as of Jan. 1, 2007, eliminating a cap that dictated the amount VeriSign could charge registrars for each .net domain. The cap, now at $4.25 per name, expires at the end of 2006. The pricing details were not included in a draft contract published by ICANN prior to the bidding process, but negotiated after VeriSign prevailed in a controversial evaluation by Telcordia. VeriSign must give six months before any price change, allowing time to lock in current pricing with multi-year renewals."

Comments

Uh oh

[Rosco P. Coltrane]

ICANN is lifting restrictions on VeriSign's pricing of .net

Time to get your Passport account while it's cheap...

It can mean only one thing...

[mislam]

We as owners of .net domains we will be screwed soon. Question is what is ICANN getting out of it?

THAT'S IT!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

I am switching from .net to java NOW!!!

Uhm, whaat? Never mind... Oops!

It's not the end of the world

[Kookus]

I'm not understanding why they should be allowed to charge more. Does the registration business really follow the same dynamics that other businesses follow?
Let's say the costs to maintain their business follow inflation, wouldn't they always be profitable on the ever increasing numbers of domains being registered? It's not like a buy once and you're set type of deal, you're locked into a service forever unless you're ready to part with your "name".

I don't see a problem with it

[CaptainTux]

I suppose I'm missing what the big deal is about this issue. I understand that Verisign has a lock on the .net TLD but the company is really no different than any other business: what they can get away with is directly regulated by what people are willing to pay. When Verisign sees the slowing down of .net registrations and the increased registrations of non Versign controld TLD's then they will either have to stand their ground and lose revenue or lower their prices.

The decisions of what Verisign can charge and how long they can charge is are really up to YOU: the customer. Vote with your feet and start looking at some non Versign controlled TLD's!

Anthony

HELP AN OPEN SOURCE PROJECT:
https://www.fundable.org/groupactions/groupaction. 2005-07-08.3911172488/

Re:I don't see a problem with it

[wfberg]

The decisions of what Verisign can charge and how long they can charge is are really up to YOU: the customer. Vote with your feet and start looking at some non Versign controlled TLD's!

This works because there is absolutely no cost or inconvenience associeted with changing your internet address!

People will magically assume that they should go to yourdomain.someobscurenonversigingTLDlikedotbizorp erhapsdotus in stead of yourdomain.net when you drop it (and when it's subsequently re-registered by a domain spammer or your competitor).

Also, e-mail will magically be rerouted so you won't miss a single e-mail, and said domainspammers/competitors won't get mail meant for you on their mailserver (you know, like paypal password reset links and stuff).

Re:I don't see a problem with it

[uss_valiant]

I suppose I'm missing what the big deal is about this issue. I understand that Verisign has a lock on the .net TLD but the company is really no different than any other business: what they can get away with is directly regulated by what people are willing to pay.

Nope, there's no alternative to Verisign if you need .net domains, it's a monopoly.
Just think of all existing .net domains. A lot of websites are bound to their .net domain name. If Verisign decided to charge more and more for .net domains, you have the choice between losing a lot of bookmarks, your well known domain name, your page rank etc. and just paying what Verisign charges.
Either let more than a single company manange and sell .net domains or regulate the price. Free marker vs. regulation. But don't give a single company the monopoly and let them charge whatever they want at the same time.
The DNS is hierarchical, so the ICANN could decide that Verisign manages the .net server, but other companies can sell .net domains too, and the ICANN should then at least regulate what the other companies have to pay for the license to sell .net domains.

Re:I don't see a problem with it

[The Pim]

People will magically assume that they should go to yourdomain.someobscurenonversigingTLDlikedotbizorp erhapsdotus in stead of yourdomain.net when you drop it (and when it's subsequently re-registered by a domain spammer or your competitor).

That's a good point that not many people bring up. Frankly, we should all be grateful to Verisign for employing their mind-control powers in such a magnanimous way. Imagine what they could do if they really were evil, as so many /.ers claim.

When asked why Verisign would raise prices..

[the_rajah]

their representative is quoted as saying, "Because I CANN."

Re:What about 3rd party registrars?

[Sawbones]

They're not raising their own prices, they're raising the price they sell domains to companies like Dotster. When you buy something through them you pay $9 (or whatever) per year, of which $4.25 goes to verisign since they need *some* money to run the physical infrastructure for handling all of the lookups. So for dotster to keep their $5 per domain profit margin they'll have to raise their rates by as much as whatever verisign increases their price by.

Re:Relax!

[vandon]

Since they are the sole suppliers of .net domains to everyone, normal free-market pricing doesn't come into play. If you want or must have a .net domain because your domain name fits with it or a business need, you're going to pay whatever verisign says to pay. It's like going to the doctor and wanting drug X that does everything you need with few side-effects, but only being able to afford less effective generic drug Y because multiple companies make it.

If you are the sole supplier of something, whether it's a tld, OS, or drug, you can charge whatever you want and free market be damned.

VeryLame

[Doc Ruby]

It still blows my mind that VeriSign can hold a monopoly on these registrations, getting so much value out of the DNS system and Internet that everyone else operates without charging VeriSign. Without giving much back - and with notoriously bad customer service, and attempted coups in breaking the protocol, by offering their own proprietary promotional database of "what you were looking for", rather than failure responses. Monopoly sure is nice - they're printing money.