RE: [ga] The Future of Domain Registry Pricing, if left uncapped

[George Kirikos <gkirikos@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hello,

--- "Neuman, Jeff" <Jeff.Neuman@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>  -- I DO NOT BELIEVE THAT WE WOULD BE ABLE TO INTRODUCE AN AUCTION
> MODEL
> (LIKE WE BELIEVE .TV TO BE) WITHOUT SUBMITTING A FORMAL PROPOSAL TO
> THE
> ICANN THROUGH ITS NEW REGISTRY SERVICES PROCESS. I AM NOT SURE WHY
> YOU
> BELIEVE WE WOULD BE ABLE TO DO THAT UNDER THE PROPOSED AGREEMENT.

You can achieve the equivalent to a Dutch auction for domain prices to
registrars by amending the Exhibit E in the Appendix (page 80)

http://www.icann.org/tlds/agreements/biz/registry-agmt-app-28jul06.pdf

to be a price schedule, and then lower the price schedule over time
until someone registers the domain name. Furthermore, one can argue you
can likely do a regular auction too, as long as there is equal access
to all registrars to that auction (i.e. you can amend Exhibit E to say
"the fee is to be determined by the following mechanism..... (and
describe an auction)". Since the contract sets no limits on methods of
pricing, you couldn't be forbidden from doing this.
 
> What about the ability to price hike existing clients who cannot
> afford
> to
> waste the marketing dollars, time, and effort it took to build
> traffic
> to
> the website so would have no choice but to pay up or get a new domain
> name
> elsewhere?
> 
>  -- AGAIN, I AM NOT SURE WHERE YOU GET THE PERCEPTION THAT WE ARE
> ABLE
> TO CHARGE DIFFERENT PRICES FOR DIFFERENT DOMAIN NAMES.  THE NORMAL
> PRICE
> FOR A RENEWAL OF A .BIZ DOMAIN NAME TO ONE REGISTRAR MUST BE THE SAME
> AS
> THE PRICE FOR ANY OTHER REGISTRAR (REMEMBER, WE DO NOT CHARGE THE END
> REGISTRANT...THAT IS DONE BY THE REGISTRARS).  

That's the point, the new contract DOES NOT FORBID IT! All you just
said is that that registrars must be charge the same price (i.e. they
must be treated the same). However, that does NOT mean that the price
for each domain has to be the same.

You can say to all registrars:

sex.biz -- $1,000,000/yr
business.biz -- $500,000/yr
tv.biz -- $100,000/yr

This is perfectly consistent with what you just wrote, that "PRICE FOR
A RENEWAL OF A .BIZ DOMAIN NAME TO ONE REGISTRAR MUST BE THE SAME AS
THE PRICE FOR ANY OTHER REGISTRAR". You must treat all registrars the
same, but that does NOT imply you must treat all domains equally. You
can price 3-letter domains more than 5 letter domains, if you wanted
to. Nothing in the new contract forbids it! 

Show me the language in the contract that says the fees for renewals or
new registrations HAVE to be the same for all domains? Show me where
the Exhibit E (page 80) is forbidden from being replaced by a price
schedule, on a domain by domain basis.

> -- WHAT LANGUAGE CAN YOU POINT TO IN THE PROPOSED AGREEMENT (WHEN
> COMPARING IT TO THE EXISTING AGREEMENT) THAT WOULD ALLOW US TO DO THE
> HYPOTHETICAL THINGS YOU BELIEVE WE ARE ABLE TO DO.  IN OTHER WORDS,
> JUST
> BECAUSE THERE IS NO MAXIMUM PRICE STATED IN THE AGREEMENT, WHY DO YOU
> BELIEVE WE ARE ENTITLED TO CHARGE A DIFFERENT WHOLESALE FEE FOR EACH
> REGISTERED DOMAIN NAME?  THE LANGUAGE IN THE PROPOSED AGREEMENT IS
> SIMILAR TO THE LANGUAGE IN THE CURRENT AGREEMENT WITH THE ONE
> EXCEPTION
> OF THERE BEING NO MAXIMUM FEE.  AND IN RELATION TO THAT, WE ARE
> LIMITED
> BY THE EXISTING MARKET CONDITIONS IN THE PRICES THAT WE CHARGE.

Wrong, wrong, wrong! We don't have to show what is allowed --- ANYTHING
is allowed under the new proposed contract. You have to show us what is
FORBIDDEN, as anything not forbidden is permitted.

And given the position of registries in the new PDP (page 29):

http://gnso.icann.org/issues/gtld-policies/pcc-pdp-03aug06.pdf

that price is not to be discussed due to the new proposed contracts
stating that consensus policies do NOT apply to pricing matters:

http://www.icann.org/tlds/agreements/biz/registry-agmt-28jul06.pdf

3.1 (b)(v)(A) (page 4)

then you might begin to understand why we find it important that price
be discussed now, before errors are made PERMANENT in the new contract.

So, simple question, where in the contract does it FORBID the fees to
be set on a domain by domain basis, or prescribe any limits whatsoever
in the manner that fees are set, besides the 6-month rule and the 10
year maximum renewal period. That question has been asked of General
Counsel too, and so far he's not been able to produce anything. It
should be a simple question, to point to a paragraph in a contract, but
I've been waiting 10 days so far, and no one can point out the
paragraph.

Sincerely,

George Kirikos
http://www.kirikos.com/