Registration fees for .com domains should be increased

[Ozgun Erdogan <ozgune@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hi all,

As a new business owner, I have been trying to find a name for my
company for the past week. I have evaluated close to 50 names, for
which no previous businesses exist; however, all corresponding domain
names and their variations were pre-registered by people trying to
monetize reselling these domains. The asking prices for these names
varied between 7,500 and 25,000 USD; moreover, the individuals holding
these domains usually had hundreds to thousands of names in their
portfolio.

I suggest that ICANN raises domain registration fees to at least 100
USD per year to allow "real" business owners to register their names.
This is a reasonable price that any real individual or business can
pay, yet it will put pressure on portfolio owners to release at least
some of the names they registered. In other words, current domain
registration fees are too low to match the demand, and creates a
market where scalping is the norm. Raising registration fees to 100
USD per year will help alleviate this problem.

Sincerely,

Ozgun Erdogan