.com prices could rise for the first time in eight years

guest · Feb 12, 2020

.com prices could rise for the first time in eight years
And keep going up
February 12, 2020
https://www.theverge.com/2020/2/12/21134632/domain-name-com-dot-price-increases-icann

Prices for .com domain names could go up for the first time in eight years, with the group responsible for overseeing top-level internet domains, ICANN, close to granting final approval for a series of price hikes.
The price of .com registration has been frozen at $7.85 since 2012.

Under a proposed agreement, the price could rise to nearly $13.50 per domain over the next 10 years. The agreement allows Verisign, which has a contract to oversee .com domains, to raise the price by up to 7 percent per year over most of the next decade. Verisign would be required to pause price increases during two years (2024 and 2025), but it would otherwise have authorization to steadily raise prices through 2029.

The price hikes don’t stem from ICANN: they come from an agreement Verisign reached with the Commerce Department, which has some oversight of .com domains.

In a blog post yesterday, ICANN CEO Göran Marby writes that the organization “is not a price regulator and defers to the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. Department of Justice for the regulation of pricing for .COM registry services.”
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The domain registrar Namecheap is making a last-minute push against the changes. On Monday, it sent out an email to customers titled “Help Us Avoid .COM Price Increases” and encouraged readers to leave a comment opposing the price hikes. In the end, it may be registrars that feel the biggest impact: if they want to keep .com pricing low as a way to hook customers and sell them on other services, they may have to take an even bigger hit.
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ICANN: .COM Public Comments and Facts

As announced by the U.S. Department of Commerce on 1 November 2018, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and Verisign agreed to extend and modify the Cooperative Agreement, under which .COM fees are governed.

Reports of the agreement between the U.S. Department of Commerce and Verisign were published by several news sources, including Domain Name Wire, Broadcasting+Cable, and Investor’s Business Daily.

You can read more about the proposed agreement and submit your comments here.
Once the Public Comment period closes, ICANN org will review all comments received and prepare and publish a summary and analysis report.
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