Business domain name registrar
BulkRegister
has attacked the recently revised agreement
between Icann and
VeriSign, arguing that
the new deal "differs little from the original settlement proposed".
The deal would give VeriSign the power to raise .com domain registration fees
by seven per cent in four of the next six years, instead of in all six years as
originally proposed.
The price VeriSign charges registrars for .com domains would rise from $6 to
$7.86, with higher fees likely to be passed on to consumers, according to
BulkRegister.
BulkRegister's analysis of the potential financial impact of the deal
suggests that the original agreement would have generated $3.43bn in potential
cumulative revenues for VeriSign by 2012, as compared to $3.29bn under the
current revised terms.
The revised agreement also gives VeriSign unprecedented control of the .com
registry by allowing it to automatically renew its management of the registry in
2012 without first going through a competitive bidding process.
"The proposed agreement between Icann and VeriSign is fundamentally flawed,"
said Eric Rice, general manager of BulkRegister.
"This deal will give one company the ability to raise prices for the most
popular domain extension without any industry review or justification.
"It also automatically extends VeriSign's control of the internet registry
beyond 2012 without any competitive bidding process whatsoever."
BulkRegister is one of eight registrars that recently signed an open letter
to the Icann board outlining numerous negative ramifications of the proposed
agreement and settlement.
The letter was also signed by
Network
Solutions, Tucows,
Register.com,
GoDaddy,
Schlund +,
Intercosmos Media Group
and Melbourne IT.
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