No to variable pricing

[Ken McCarthy <kenmc@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

August 18, 2006

To the Board of Directors of ICANN,

I oppose the proposed changes to the .ORG registry
agreement, especially "variable domain pricing" on
the following grounds:

1. It is not needed

There is nothing wrong with the current system.
In fact, the system as it is has been is one of the
keystone's to the Internet's growth and health.

2. It would be destructive and unjust

The language of the proposal is not entirely clear,
but it appears that owners of domains who've invested
considerably in building businesses on them would
be put in the position of having to renew their domains
at unlimited prices.

This creates the possibility of pricing many thousands
of existing businesses out of existence.

3. It would be a misuse of monopoly power

gTLDs are, by definition, a monopoly and as such
should be subject to regulation and price controls.

4. The public deserves better notice and more time
to post comments

This proposal represents a RADICAL change to the
traditional system and at a minimum merits a much longer
public comment period and a much greater effort on
ICANN's part to educate users of the system as to the
nature of the proposal.

Thank you,

Ken McCarthy
Amacord, Inc.