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<p>Milton, I showed in a substantial, subsequent email how those
comments don't actually track the language of 2.10, the pricing
provisions of the new Registry agreement. I included each
subsection, a summary, and then the full contractual language.
Ultimately, we have to go with what the contract says... <br>
</p>
<p>Please see my follow-up email. There is absolutely no provision
for notification of registrants, unfortunately... <br>
</p>
<p>Best, Kathy<br>
</p>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 4/29/2019 10:48 PM, Mueller, Milton
L wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:FB63DC96-5510-43DC-9615-964D58562984@gatech.edu">
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
<br>
In answer to Ayden and Michael I am resending to the list comments
Amr made a few days ago. They show how the new Registry Agreement
still limits price increases effectively. I guess folks who are
panicking about uncontrolled price increases didn’t read the
actual registry agreement.
<div><br>
</div>
<div>So no, Ayden I am not impressed with the comments of the
existing .org registrants because it seems like they are not
well-informed - all they hear is the phrase “no more price
caps”. Seems like the price increases only affect new
registrants. </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>But why let facts get in the way of your fun, eh?<br>
<div><br>
<div id="AppleMailSignature" dir="ltr">Milton L Mueller
<div>Professor, School of Public Policy</div>
<div>Georgia Institute of Technology</div>
</div>
<div dir="ltr"><br>
Begin forwarded message:<br>
<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div dir="ltr"><b>From:</b> Amr Elsadr <<a
href="mailto:aelsadr@icannpolicy.ninja"
moz-do-not-send="true">aelsadr@icannpolicy.ninja</a>><br>
<b>Date:</b> April 25, 2019 at 16:33:35 EDT<br>
<b>To:</b> <a href="mailto:milton@GATECH.EDU"
moz-do-not-send="true">milton@GATECH.EDU</a><br>
<b>Cc:</b> <a href="mailto:NCSG-DISCUSS@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU"
moz-do-not-send="true">NCSG-DISCUSS@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU</a><br>
<b>Subject:</b> <b>Re: [Urgent] [Public Comment] Proposed
Renewal of .org Registry Agreement</b><br>
<b>Reply-To:</b> Amr Elsadr <<a
href="mailto:aelsadr@icannpolicy.ninja"
moz-do-not-send="true">aelsadr@icannpolicy.ninja</a>><br>
<br>
</div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div dir="ltr">Hi Milton,
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">If my understanding of Section 2.10 of the
Registry Agreement is correct, registrars can continue
to renew existing registrations without an increase in
price following an increase in pricing of new
registrations by the Registry Operator (RO) for a period
of up to 10 years. Additionally, ROs are required to
have uniform pricing for registration renewals. This
would mean that all renewal prices would remain
unchanged, unless they all change across all registrars
simultaneously.</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">The protections for existing registrants
referred to are detailed in 2.10c of the Registry
Agreement. The protection is basically that registrants
have to agree to renewal prices higher than that of the
original registration at the time of the initial
registration. It can’t be forced upon them at a later
date. This is meant as a provision to
<i class="">“<span style="font-family: Cambria, serif;
font-size: 16px; text-indent: 96px;" class="">prohibit
abusive and/or discriminatory Renewal Pricing
practices imposed by Registry Operator without the
written consent of the applicable registrant at the
time of the initial registration of the domain</span>“</i>.</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">Thanks.</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">Amr </div>
<div class="">
<div><br class="">
<blockquote type="cite" class="">
<div class="">On Apr 25, 2019, at 9:30 PM, Mueller,
Milton L <<a href="mailto:milton@GATECH.EDU"
class="" moz-do-not-send="true">milton@GATECH.EDU</a>>
wrote:</div>
<br class="Apple-interchange-newline">
<div class="">
<div class="WordSection1" style="page:
WordSection1; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);
font-family: TrebuchetMS; font-size: 14px;
font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal;
font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal;
text-align: start; text-indent: 0px;
text-transform: none; white-space: normal;
word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width:
0px; text-decoration: none;">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size:
12pt; font-family: "Times New
Roman", serif;" class="">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family:
Calibri, sans-serif; color: rgb(31, 73,
125);" class="">I agree with the letter’s
discussion of URS and other RPMs. I agree
with Amr that we may need to moderate the
language about “unilateral ICANN action”
however because PIR may indeed have gone
along with this.<span
class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><o:p
class=""></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size:
12pt; font-family: "Times New
Roman", serif;" class="">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family:
Calibri, sans-serif; color: rgb(31, 73,
125);" class=""><o:p class=""> </o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size:
12pt; font-family: "Times New
Roman", serif;" class="">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family:
Calibri, sans-serif; color: rgb(31, 73,
125);" class="">On the issue of price caps,
I think we need some factual clarification.
If Amr is right and the potential price
increases only apply to new registrants,
then there is much less of an issue. The
proposed renewal says “</span><span
style="font-size: 11pt; font-family:
Calibri, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);
background-color: white;
background-position: initial initial;
background-repeat: initial initial;"
class="">Protections for existing
registrants will remain in place, in line
with the base registry agreement.“</span><span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family:
Calibri, sans-serif; color: rgb(31, 73,
125);" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size:
12pt; font-family: "Times New
Roman", serif;" class="">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family:
Calibri, sans-serif; color: rgb(31, 73,
125);" class=""><o:p class=""> </o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size:
12pt; font-family: "Times New
Roman", serif;" class="">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family:
Calibri, sans-serif; color: rgb(31, 73,
125);" class="">What, exactly, are those
“protections for existing registrants”?<o:p
class=""></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size:
12pt; font-family: "Times New
Roman", serif;" class="">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family:
Calibri, sans-serif; color: rgb(31, 73,
125);" class=""><o:p class=""> </o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size:
12pt; font-family: "Times New
Roman", serif;" class="">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family:
Calibri, sans-serif; color: rgb(31, 73,
125);" class="">MM<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size:
12pt; font-family: "Times New
Roman", serif;" class="">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family:
Calibri, sans-serif; color: rgb(31, 73,
125);" class=""><o:p class=""> </o:p></span></div>
<div class="">
<div style="border-style: solid none none;
border-top-width: 1pt; border-top-color:
rgb(225, 225, 225); padding: 3pt 0in 0in;"
class="">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;
font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times
New Roman", serif;" class="">
<b class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt;
font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"
class="">From:</span></b><span
style="font-size: 11pt; font-family:
Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span
class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>NCSG-Discuss
<<a
href="mailto:NCSG-DISCUSS@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU"
style="color: purple; text-decoration:
underline;" class=""
moz-do-not-send="true">NCSG-DISCUSS@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU</a>><span
class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><b
class="">On Behalf Of<span
class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></b>Amr
Elsadr<br class="">
<b class="">Sent:</b><span
class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Thursday,
April 25, 2019 10:33 AM<br class="">
<b class="">To:</b><span
class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a
href="mailto:NCSG-DISCUSS@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU" style="color: purple;
text-decoration: underline;" class=""
moz-do-not-send="true">NCSG-DISCUSS@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU</a><br
class="">
<b class="">Subject:</b><span
class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Re:
[Urgent] [Public Comment] Proposed
Renewal of .org Registry Agreement<o:p
class=""></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size:
12pt; font-family: "Times New
Roman", serif;" class="">
<o:p class=""> </o:p></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size:
12pt; font-family: "Times New
Roman", serif;" class="">
Hi,<o:p class=""></o:p></div>
<div class="">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;
font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times
New Roman", serif;" class="">
<o:p class=""> </o:p></div>
</div>
<div class="">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;
font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times
New Roman", serif;" class="">
Thanks for sharing this, Rafik. Speaking for
myself, I very much agree with the comment
on adding the new gTLD Rights Protection
Mechanisms (RPMs) to the PIR contract for
.org at this time. As the draft comment
rightly points out, these RPMs will not
actually be Consensus Policies until after
the ICANN Board adopts the recommendations
of the Review of all RPMs in all gTLDs PDP
Working Group, and should not apply to any
of the legacy gTLDs, including .org. However
to characterize the decision to do so as a
unilateral ICANN decision is something I’m
not sure of. I presume that PIR negotiated
this with ICANN before the public comment
period began? I might be wrong, as I’m
making an assumption here.<o:p class=""></o:p></div>
</div>
<div class="">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;
font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times
New Roman", serif;" class="">
<o:p class=""> </o:p></div>
</div>
<div class="">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;
font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times
New Roman", serif;" class="">
To be clear, the RPMs that would be
applicable here (if I’m not mistaken) are
the Uniform Rapid Suspension (URS) and the
Trademark Claims RPM (part of the Trademark
Clearing House), but not the Sunrise
Registrations RPM, obviously, since .org has
been around for a while.<o:p class=""></o:p></div>
</div>
<div class="">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;
font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times
New Roman", serif;" class="">
<o:p class=""> </o:p></div>
</div>
<div class="">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;
font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times
New Roman", serif;" class="">
Substantively, I don’t believe the URS will
be much of an issue, since it is largely
deemed to be an unappealing mechanism for
use by Trademark holders, as the stats and
anecdotal evidence that has been shared to
date indicate. The impact of Trademark
Claims, on the other hand, might be very
different, and prior to it being reviewed by
the RPMs PDP, and adopted as an ICANN
policy, I don’t believe adding it to the
.org contract in a renewal is a good move.<o:p
class=""></o:p></div>
</div>
<div class="">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;
font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times
New Roman", serif;" class="">
<o:p class=""> </o:p></div>
</div>
<div class="">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;
font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times
New Roman", serif;" class="">
On the second issue, where the draft comment
disagrees with removing price caps for .org
registrations, I’m pretty sure I don’t agree
with the rationale or conclusion. I don’t
believe PIR’s status as a non-profit entity
justifies this. IMO, it imposes unreasonable
obligations on PIR that other Registry
Operators are not subject to, so effectively
penalizing PIR for its status, and its
continued mission to<span
class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i
class="">“support many excellent causes”</i>,
as pointed out in the draft.<o:p class=""></o:p></div>
</div>
<div class="">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;
font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times
New Roman", serif;" class="">
<o:p class=""> </o:p></div>
</div>
<div class="">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;
font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times
New Roman", serif;" class="">
Furthermore, there is little to no evidence
that I can see (at least in the draft) that
registrants of .org domain names will be
negatively impacted by removal of the price
cap. My understanding is that this will
mainly impact new registrations, not
existing ones, but this isn’t addressed at
all.<o:p class=""></o:p></div>
</div>
<div class="">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;
font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times
New Roman", serif;" class="">
<o:p class=""> </o:p></div>
</div>
<div class="">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;
font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times
New Roman", serif;" class="">
To me, PIR needs to set its own price taking
in to consideration their own consumer base.
If they make bad decisions that drive their
customers away, I don’t believe this will
negatively impact registrants as much as it
would PIR itself, especially considering
that there are over a thousand gTLDs for
registrants to migrate to, should they
choose to do so.<o:p class=""></o:p></div>
</div>
<div class="">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;
font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times
New Roman", serif;" class="">
<o:p class=""> </o:p></div>
</div>
<div class="">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;
font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times
New Roman", serif;" class="">
Thanks.<o:p class=""></o:p></div>
</div>
<div class="">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;
font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times
New Roman", serif;" class="">
<o:p class=""> </o:p></div>
</div>
<div class="">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;
font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times
New Roman", serif;" class="">
Amr<o:p class=""></o:p></div>
</div>
<div class="">
<div class="">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;
font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times
New Roman", serif;" class="">
<br class="">
<br class="">
<o:p class=""></o:p></div>
<blockquote style="margin-top: 5pt;
margin-bottom: 5pt;" class="">
<div class="">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;
font-size: 12pt; font-family:
"Times New Roman", serif;"
class="">
On Apr 25, 2019, at 3:59 PM, Rafik
Dammak <<a
href="mailto:rafik.dammak@GMAIL.COM"
style="color: purple;
text-decoration: underline;"
class="" moz-do-not-send="true">rafik.dammak@GMAIL.COM</a>>
wrote:<o:p class=""></o:p></div>
</div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;
font-size: 12pt; font-family:
"Times New Roman", serif;"
class="">
<o:p class=""> </o:p></div>
<div class="">
<div class="">
<div class="">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in
0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt;
font-family: "Times New
Roman", serif;" class="">
Hi all,<o:p class=""></o:p></div>
<div class="">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in
0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt;
font-family: "Times New
Roman", serif;" class="">
<o:p class=""> </o:p></div>
</div>
<div class="">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in
0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt;
font-family: "Times New
Roman", serif;" class="">
We have a suggested draft
comment ( attached) on proposed
renewal of .org agreement <a
href="https://www.icann.org/public-comments/org-renewal-2019-03-18-en"
style="color: purple;
text-decoration: underline;"
class=""
moz-do-not-send="true">https://www.icann.org/public-comments/org-renewal-2019-03-18-en</a>.
The deadline for submission is
the 29th April and for NCSG PC
to review and endorse. Please
share your comments abd input.<o:p
class=""></o:p></div>
</div>
<div class="">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in
0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt;
font-family: "Times New
Roman", serif;" class="">
<o:p class=""> </o:p></div>
</div>
<div class="">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in
0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt;
font-family: "Times New
Roman", serif;" class="">
Best Regards,<o:p class=""></o:p></div>
</div>
<div class="">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in
0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt;
font-family: "Times New
Roman", serif;" class="">
<o:p class=""> </o:p></div>
</div>
<div class="">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in
0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt;
font-family: "Times New
Roman", serif;" class="">
Rafik <o:p class=""></o:p></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;
font-size: 12pt; font-family:
"Times New Roman", serif;"
class="">
<Org Letter Rev.docx></div>
</div>
</blockquote>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
</div>
<br class="">
</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Kathy Kleiman
Visiting Scholar, Center for Information Technology, Princeton University
President (on leave), Domain Name Rights Coalition</pre>
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