Verisign, the domain name registry that controls the .com domain (as well as .net and others), just notified its registrars (the companies that actually sell domain names to end users) that the wholesale price of .com domains will be raised 7%, from $6/year to $6.42/year. Expect registrars, particularly discount registrars with little margin to play with, to raise their prices by roughly the same amount.
This doesn’t sound like much of an increase, but Verisign now has the right, pursuant to a renegotiated contract with ICANN, to continue to raise wholesale prices 7%/year pretty much indefinitely. And with roughly 65 million .com domain names registered worldwide, Verisign just added $27 million dollars per year to their bottom line.
It’s good to be a monopoly.
Ex-ICANN Board member says Verisign spends less then 14 cents to maintain a domain name in its registry.
http://blog.domaintools.com/
Just read http://www.techsoapbox.com/ex-.....in-is-014/
“…it costs VeriSign roughly 14 cents per domain. The recent increase price pushes their margin of 4200% to 4500%”
Why didn’t they just round up to .50?
monopoly-accusers: this is not a monopoly. everyone is just too lazy to come up with a viable alternate root nameserver network. we could do it peer-moderated, no registrations, karma/ratings etc. would actualy be an interesting project compared to most of the stuff posted around here
I’m surprised nobody mentioned that it’s not just a one time increase nor is it capped at 7% but that Verisign has the ability to raise prices AT LEAST 7% A YEAR FOR 4 OF NEXT 6 YEARS and 2 more times if it is for security or stability.
http://blog.domaintools.com/20.....-windfall/
money changes everything
Its amazing how Verisign in negotiating with ICANN was able to convince them of price increases growing significantly higher than both inflation and the general economy.
Too much for me.
Thank god. This will greatly reduce the domain name abuse. Those companies who but millions of domain name and ask the owner xyz price will die out or at least slow down.