I strongly OPPOSE these changes, regarding the new Proposed .BIZ, .INFO AND .ORG gTLD Registry Agreements.

["Nic Mason" <contact@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Dear ICANN,

I strongly oppose these changes!

Regarding the new Proposed .BIZ, .INFO AND .ORG gTLD Registry Agreements:  
http://www.icann.org/announcements/announcement-2-28jul06.htm

They will put me and more than 99% of web businesses OUT of business almost 
immediately!

Please read the following articles and STOP these changes from occurring.

  http://lse.co.uk/ShowStory.asp?story=JH264060B

  Network Solutions CEO Champ Mitchell said that the .com deal "shocks the 
conscience." These new contracts are infinitely worse, and create dangerous new 
precedents.

Frank Schilling has written about the consequences of these very near-sighted 
changes.  I have attached a copy of his analysis below this letter.

http://forum.icann.org/lists/biz-tld-agreement/msg00005.html

Do not allow these changes to go ahead!  You will destroy my livelihood,  and 
that of millions of other businesses.

Regards,

Nic Mason

0425 708 094

PO Box 123 Yarraville VIC 3013 Australia

Contact@xxxxxxxxxxxx

_________________

www.NicMason.com
_________________


  http://forum.icann.org/lists/biz-tld-agreement/msg00005.html

  The combination of "presumptive renewal" and the "lifting of price controls 
on 
  registry services" is incredibly dangerous.

  Imagine buying a home, taking on a large mortgage, remodeling, moving in, 
only 
  to be informed 6 months later that your property taxes will go up 10,000% 
with 
  no better services offered by local government.  The government doesn't care 
if 
  you can't pay your tax/mortgage because they don't really want you to pay 
your 
  tax...  they want you to abandon your home so they can take your property and 
  resell it to a higher payer for more money, pocketing the difference 
  themselves, leaving you with nothing.

  This agreement as written leaves the door open to exactly that type of 
  scenario. Domain registrants accustomed to paying $8 or $10 may suddenly be 
  faced with a bill for $500.00 per name year or more because their name is 
  desired by more than one party. Profitable sites such as Google.biz could get 
  renewal bills of $100,000 per year.. or 1 million per year.  The registry 
  doesn't care -- if the registrant fails to renew the name they can offer a 
  domain parking service to monetize latent traffic from the former 
registrant's 
  activity. 

  A registry changing the rules in the sandbox, usurping the rights of the 
  registrants it was meant to serve, creating fiefdoms in the name of profit 
for 
  the registry operator..  The scenarios just described are wide open for 
  implementation if this agreement passes unchanged.

  It is troubling that in 2006 ICANN still consistently fails to take into 
  account the mercantilist instincts of its for-profit registry partners. This 
  agreement should never have made it to this comment phase as written.  
ICANN's 
  time horizon is much shorter sighted than the registry operator. It is 
  profoundly troubling that no-one at ICANN has thought to build the simplest 
of 
  safeguards to protect small business people and end users from the wholesale 
  change in pricing structure, left open in these agreements.

  I urge ICANN to reject this agreement as written, to modify the salient 
points 
  relating to price control in order to provide certainty and assurance for the 
  registrants of this name-space.

  Registry operators would be well served to model the successful registries.  
  The largest most thriving name-spaces are those with consistent, predictable 
  and moderate pricing. Where registrants of all kinds can grow their 
businesses 
  without the heavy-hand of intervention or price manipulation.  Namespaces are 
  remarkably similar to "countries" in that those that foster low taxes, 
liberty 
  and opportunity for all, are those that attract the best, brightest; and 
  ultimately thrive to the envy of others.

  Sincerely,

  Frank Schilling.