[ispcp] Board Recommends NonRefundable Registration Fee

["Mark McFadden - ISPCP Secretariat" <mcfadden@xxxxxxxxxx>]

http://www.icann.org/announcements/announcement-29jan08.htm

ICANN Board Recommends Action on Domain Tasting

 

Suggested fee change would effectively eliminate tasting

 

29 January 2008

 

MARINA DEL REY, Calif.: The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and
Numbers is looking to effectively end domain tasting with a proposal to
start charging the annual ICANN fee on registrar domain registrations.

 

Domain tasting is the use of the Add Grace Period to test the profitability
of a domain name registration. The AGP is a five-day period following the
initial registration of a domain name when the registration may be deleted
and a credit can be issued to a registrar.

 

"Domain tasting has been an issue for the Internet community and ICANN is
offering this proposal as a way to stop tasting," said Dr Paul Twomey,
ICANN's President and CEO. "Charging the ICANN fee as soon as a domain name
is registered would close the loophole used by tasters to test a domain
name's profitability for free."

 

AGP was originally introduced by registries so registrars could avoid costs
if a domain name was mistyped or misspelled during the registration process.
It is part of the .com, .net, .org, .info, .name, ..pro, and .biz registry
contracts.

 

Tasting has been a serious challenge for the Internet community and has
grown exponentially since 2004. In January 2007 the top 10 domain tasters
accounted for 95% of all deleted .com and .net domain names - or

45,450,897 domain names out of 47,824,131 total deletes.

 

The proposal will be part of the ICANN budget process for the fiscal year
starting 1 July 2008. The early draft version of that budget will be
released for and discussed at ICANN's New Delhi meeting later this month.
After public discussions of this proposal and other budget issues, the
proposed budget will be released for addition discussions by

17 May 2008 and be voted on at the board meeting to be held during the ICANN
meeting in Paris in June. ICANN accredited registrars representing
two-thirds of fees collected will be asked to approve the proposal.

 

"This idea came from the ICANN community and we think it is a viable
solution the Internet community has been seeking," Dr Twomey added.

 

[From the gNSO Secretariat]

 

Mark McFadden

Secretariat, ISPCP Constituency

mcfadden@xxxxxxxxxx