Posted by
ryuzaki0
on from the this-is-gonna-get-nutty dept.
ToasT writes "ICANN is set to name five new domain registrars -- Sprint and AOL are rumored to be in the running.
Experts agree that domain names will be less than $15, but more than $2 according to this article on
ZDNet. "
Yes, free competition is what this market needs. I pay $70 every two years to what used to be the InterNIC, and get possibly the worst customer service on the planet - as do many others.
Actually if you read the article closely you'll notice the less than $15 more than $2 price refers to the price the new registration companies pay to network solutions. Netowrk Solutions will continue to hold the main database of domain names and the new companies will pay them a fee for this job. The cost to the end user will definitely be higher than the price these companies pay to network solutions.
Sure I am all for cheap domains for things like.org/.edu, but is cheaper reg fees really a good thing. There are already too many domain squatters at the price point now. What happens when registration is like $25 USD for a domain. Then every company will be more likely to buy every iterance of their supposed Int. Prop. I think Domain squatting will just get that much worse.
I don't know where ZD is getting this stuff. If you visit ICANN's web site you'll see that the proposed cost structure to Registrars is set at $16 per domain per year *plus* $1.00 to ICANN, plus a $10,000 entry fee, plus a $100,000 bond, plus a $2500 SRS application fee.
At 500 domains per month (which is low), a new registrar is paying $35.75 per domain - which is more than they pay now per domain.
This doesn't take into account the added cost of the hardware and business spec for participating...
-- "Although we may build the technology that we define as
tools, we must be vigilant that those tools do not define us."
This is bad. Network Solutions will still have total control of the TLD's, which is an intolerable situation, in my opinion.
Alternic is looking like a better and better idea the whole time, and I'm happy to say that the Brits have got it right - check out what sort of company the.uk domain registrar, Nominet, is at http://www.nic.uk/
Control of the Internet should be vested in an international ITU-style organisation. This US-centric attitude is annoying.
I'll tell you something - if all five new domain registrars are American, they and NetSol had better consider every single move they make in the future, because it'll turn into open season and the fact is, boys and girls, they ain't secure.
Actually controlling scalping/squatting should be relatively easy. Most of the people who do it do so to re-sell the name. So, make a simple rule: nobody can re-sell a domain name. You can drop your registration and let someone else pick it up, but you can't get money for doing so. Anyone caught reselling domain names immediately loses all of their registered domain names.
This is nicely self-enforcing, too. If the buyer wants the name, as soon as the seller makes an offer all the buyer has to do is forward a copy of the offer to InterNIC and bam, the name is free. The proof of re-selling comes from the seller's own hand, so there's no credibility question. InterNIC doesn't even have to go looking, the buyers will do that for them.
The only thing that needs care is distinguishing a scalper from a company that's handling the registration and administrivia on behalf of others, and that's easy: a scalper owns the name beforehand, the companies ( ISPs mainly ) handling DNS administrivia for their clients don't.
(note:.edu cost changes would only benefit 4-year colleges and universities)
.net,.com, and.org domain "speculators" are real problem. My understanding is that they do not pay for the vast majority of their thousands and thousands of domain names.
So, if fighting against squatting is going to be moved to the next level, something has to be done. Most companies that squat on domain names never bother paying the dues because NSI doesn't require immideate billing for companies that already have a great number of outstanding unpaid domain names. If that were fixed then the profitability in domain squatting would be blown away.
In addition, NSI completely overcharges for the maintanence of their database and nameservers. By now it's widely known that they are completely mis-managed, and many people would like to demonstrate how easy it would be to design a better system from the ground up, at a low cost.
Slashdot Mirror
Yes, free competition is what this market needs. I pay $70 every two years to what used to be the InterNIC, and get possibly the worst customer service on the planet - as do many others.
- Read fiction at www.espressostories.com
Actually if you read the article closely you'll notice the less than $15 more than $2 price refers to the price the new registration companies pay to network solutions. Netowrk Solutions will continue to hold the main database of domain names and the new companies will pay them a fee for this job. The cost to the end user will definitely be higher than the price these companies pay to network solutions.
Kithran
the artical actually says that the charge that one of the new companies will have to pay for 'administration' will be in the range 2-15.
:)
I guess that this puts the price a consumer will pay as something like 10-30, a lot cheaper but not less than a pizza
Sure I am all for cheap domains for things like .org/.edu, but is cheaper reg fees really a good thing. There are already too many domain squatters at the price point now. What happens when registration is like $25 USD for a domain. Then every company will be more likely to buy every iterance of their supposed Int. Prop. I think Domain squatting will just get that much worse.
What do you think?
Blocklevel: Practical Information Architecture
At 500 domains per month (which is low), a new registrar is paying $35.75 per domain - which is more than they pay now per domain.
This doesn't take into account the added cost of the hardware and business spec for participating...
"Although we may build the technology that we define as tools, we must be vigilant that those tools do not define us."
I just had a horrible thought... Imagine Windows 9x having an enhanced Internet Connection Wizard which will help you register a domain!
I really wouldn't put it past them to do that.
Oooo.. how about: "Corporate Deathmatch: The Battle of the Monopolies! Network Solutions -v- Microsoft Corp." I'd pay money to see that fight. =)
This is bad. Network Solutions will still have total control of the TLD's, which is an intolerable situation, in my opinion.
.uk domain registrar, Nominet, is at http://www.nic.uk/
Alternic is looking like a better and better idea the whole time, and I'm happy to say that the Brits have got it right - check out what sort of company the
Control of the Internet should be vested in an international ITU-style organisation. This US-centric attitude is annoying.
I'll tell you something - if all five new domain registrars are American, they and NetSol had better consider every single move they make in the future, because it'll turn into open season and the fact is, boys and girls, they ain't secure.
The Dodger
Actually controlling scalping/squatting should be relatively easy. Most of the people who do it do so to re-sell the name. So, make a simple rule: nobody can re-sell a domain name. You can drop your registration and let someone else pick it up, but you can't get money for doing so. Anyone caught reselling domain names immediately loses all of their registered domain names.
This is nicely self-enforcing, too. If the buyer wants the name, as soon as the seller makes an offer all the buyer has to do is forward a copy of the offer to InterNIC and bam, the name is free. The proof of re-selling comes from the seller's own hand, so there's no credibility question. InterNIC doesn't even have to go looking, the buyers will do that for them.
The only thing that needs care is distinguishing a scalper from a company that's handling the registration and administrivia on behalf of others, and that's easy: a scalper owns the name beforehand, the companies ( ISPs mainly ) handling DNS administrivia for their clients don't.
(note: .edu cost changes would only benefit 4-year colleges and universities)
.org domain "speculators" are real problem. My understanding is that they do not pay for the vast majority of their thousands and thousands of domain names.
.net,.com, and
So, if fighting against squatting is going to be moved to the next level, something has to be done. Most companies that squat on domain names never bother paying the dues because NSI doesn't require immideate billing for companies that already have a great number of outstanding unpaid domain names. If that were fixed then the profitability in domain squatting would be blown away.
In addition, NSI completely overcharges for the maintanence of their database and nameservers. By now it's widely known that they are completely mis-managed, and many people would like to demonstrate how easy it would be to design a better system from the ground up, at a low cost.
-Peter
== Just my opinion(s)