[NCSG-PC] Proposed Renewal of .org Registry Agreement

[Michael Karanicolas]

Hi,

Thanks so much for the kind words. I think the price caps is a challenging
issue. Obviously PIR wants to raise revenues and, as they noted in their
feedback to Stephanie on this (copied below), they put money towards some
good causes.

To me it's fundamentally a market question - which is why I was so cautious
about it. Most NGOs aren't holding big portfolios of domain names, and
costs still look quite reasonable to me, in absolute terms, such that I
don't imagine it would be a huge obstacle even to small organizations if
they went up a bit, just so long as any increases were managed and imposed
in consideration of the role that .org plays, as distinct from other
domains. Honestly, it's a bit puzzling to me as to why they would want to
get rid of the caps, if they're not even utilizing the 10% raises that
they're allowed at the moment. But I'm also not sure that NCSG necessarily
wants to pick a fight with them over this, which is another reason I
phrased things in cautious terms.

Anyway - happy to defer to the PCs thoughts here - I'm sort of in two minds
myself on the position we should take.

Best,

Michael



   - Because ICANN is not a regulator and having price restrictions in this
   scenario is highly unusual.
   - PIR, with .ORG, does not have market power.  The Department of Justice
   has gone through the exercise of looking at what Registries have market
   power and came to the conclusion that only .COM does.  Without market
   power, it would be inappropriate and inconsistent with a market economy to
   maintain price caps on .ORG.
      - This is particularly true as .ORG is moving onto the new TLD
      Agreement.
   - With any price increase, registrants will have the ability to lock in
   their pricing for the next 10 years without any price fluctuation.
   - PIR is a non-profit and has a public interest mission; not every
   decision for us is purely financial.  Under the legacy agreement for .ORG,
   we have had the right to raise prices each and every year up to 10%.  That
   being said, we have not chosen to raise prices in the last three years at
   all.
   - More than 50 cents of every dollar that comes into PIR goes directly
   to fund the work of the Internet Society and the amazing work they do.  Any
   eventual price increase does not go to bolster the “bottom line” for PIR,
   but rather, to end up doing more good and providing more accessible and
   better internet around the world.



On Tue, Apr 23, 2019 at 9:29 AM Ayden Férdeline <icann at ferdeline.com> wrote:

> Thanks for drafting this, Michael. It is a great comment.
>
> I am wondering about the recommendation on price caps.
>
> Perhaps they should remain in place and, if anything, be lowered or remain
> stable? I am not sure I understand why they should be raised. It is not
> like PIR is struggling - because their costs have declined, not increased,
> over the past five years.
>
> But this is not a topic I know a lot about, so looking forward to hearing
> other views here. Thanks!
>
> -- Ayden
>
>
> ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Original Message ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
> On Tuesday, April 23, 2019 5:09 AM, Martin Pablo Silva Valent <
> mpsilvavalent at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> I like it! You have my full support!
>
> Martin Silva Valent
>
> mpsilvavalent at gmail.com
>
>
> *Partner | Silva.legal*martin at silva.legal
> *Director | Dat.as*
> martin.silva at dat.as
>
> Skype ID: mpsilvavalent
> Tel: +5491164993943
> Libertador 5990, Off. 406
> Buenos Aires, Argentina.
>
> Este email, incluyendo adjuntos, podría contener información  confidencial
> protegida por ley y es para uso exclusivo de su destinatario. Si  Ud. no es
> el destinatario, se le advierte que cualquier uso, difusión, copia o
>  retención de este email o su contenido está estrictamente prohibido.
> Si Ud.  recibió este email por error, por favor avise inmediatamente al
> remitente por  teléfono o email y borre el mismo de su computadora. /
> This  e-mail, including any attachments, may contain information that is
> protected by  law as privileged and confidential, and is transmitted for
> the sole use of the  intended recipient. If you are not the intended
> recipient, you are hereby  notified that any use, dissemination, copying or
> retention of this e-mail or the  information contained herein is strictly
> prohibited. If you have received this  e-mail in error, please immediately
> notify the sender by telephone or reply  e-mail, and permanently delete
> this e-mail from your computer system.
>
> On Apr 22, 2019, at 10:42 PM, Michael Karanicolas <mkaranicolas at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> Hello all,
>
> Hope you are well. I am just writing regarding the public comment for
> renewing the .org registry agreement.
>
> I reached out to Stephanie a few days ago about the possibility of an NCSG
> submission, and she suggested there might be some possibility to get
> something approved in advance of the April 29 deadline. I am attaching a
> first draft, and would be keen to hear what you think.
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Michael
> <Org Letter Rev.docx>_______________________________________________
> NCSG-PC mailing list
> NCSG-PC at lists.ncsg.is
> https://lists.ncsg.is/mailman/listinfo/ncsg-pc
>
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.ncsg.is/pipermail/ncsg-pc/attachments/20190423/d813bece/attachment.htm>