Monopoly or Unregulated pricing: Pick One

["Ben Davenport" <bendavenport@xxxxxxxxx>]

The registries that provide TLD services are monopolies, chosen by ICANN.
Giving the registries arbitrary pricing power over the domain names they
control is a disastrous idea. The domain name registry business will turn
into no more than a protection racket if this agreement passes. Domain
owners who have developed a valuable business would now be at the whims of
the internet mafia when it came time to pay their domain registration fees.

It makes absolutely no sense and has no legal precedent for an imposed
monopoly to be given arbitrary pricing power. You can have one or the other,
but not both. Every monopoly granted by the state has severe limits on its
power and pricing, for good reason. What if the US Trademark and Patent
Office had similar power? The more valuable one's trademark or patent
became, the more the office could raise prices. All of the hard work and
capital that went into building the value would ultimately accrue to the
government. It would be the end of patents and trademarks. What if electric
utilities could charge rates so high that businesses could just barely stay
in business? Perhaps we should allow the government to charge the registries
arbitrarily much for the pleasure of staying in business?

ICANN must understand that even if this proposal passes, it will never be
allowed to stand. For now, the proposal does not apply to .com and .net, but
since that's where the money is, of course they're going to be next, if this
trial is successful. That will never happen. ICANN and the registries will
be slapped with so many lawsuits their collective heads will spin. ICANN and
the registries have a good thing going: noncompetitive, fixed pricing on a
pure information asset which gets cheaper to provide every year. Why would
they potentially risk their entire businesses and charters on a proposal
that will never be realized?

ICANN has a simple choice. Withdraw this proposal now, or reap the whirlwind
of lawsuits and anti-trust laws later.

Ben Davenport
San Francisco, CA