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This is the most obvious reason why Verisign is a monopolist and should be regulated like a utility. They make false claims about choice and not being locked in
by ohashi 2y ago
This is the most obvious reason why Verisign is a monopolist and should be regulated like a utility. They make false claims about choice and not being locked in. You buy a domain, you use it, you're locked in forever. And they know it. That's why they fight tooth and nail to protect their monopoly.
- hsbauauvhabzb 2y agoIt’s worse if you stop using the phrase ‘buy’ and instead use the term ‘rent’. A DNS provider could 10,000x your domain cost and there’s nothing you can do about it.
- j-bos 2y agoCan they? I thought ICANN prevented such steep increases?
- joecool1029 2y agoOnly for a few TLD's, stuff like ccTLD's there's no limit on how much a registry can charge.
- t-writescode 2y agoTo be clear, that's because the country that represents that ccTLD has sovereignty over it. That's also why they can have arbitrary, unusual requirements on them.
- ryan29 2y agoThere are a bunch of different domain types all commingled together; non-premium gTLD domains, ccTLD domains, 3rd level domains, registry premium gTLD domains and, as added complexity, aftermarket domains which could be any of the previous listed types. ICANN provides some protection for standard gTLD domains, but it's minimal. You're guaranteed identical pricing to all other standard domain registrants on the gTLD, so they can only raise your price by raising the price of everyone else at the same time. That hasn't stopped some registries from 10x price increases though. The only thing it does is ensure they can't single you out and massively hike your renewal fee. However, that does not apply to registry premium gTLD domains. When you register a registry premium domain you waive those protections and the registries can technically do anything they want. If you register a ccTLD domain, you're at the mercy of that country's registry. If you register a 3rd level domain you're at the mercy of the 2nd level domain owner and they're regulated by either ICANN or a country based registry. It's actually somewhat complex when you get into it.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- nl 2y ago> A DNS provider could 10,000x your domain cost DNS providers can't do this. It's domain registries that can.
- Tepix 2y agoNo kidding. I had a one letter .tm domain name back in the 90s and they (Turkmenistan) increased the fee to $1000/year.
- darby_nine 2y agoTbh this seems like a win—you want to incentivize making as much use of those short domains as possible.
- snypher 2y agoIs this like forcing a tenant out of a property because you wish to raise the rent?
- seniorivn 2y agoits the opposite, its an increase of rent, because you want to increase rent
- darby_nine 2y agoYea, but in this case the property is very special. I don't think anyone has a right to own a "name" for perpetuity, especially such a short one—that's just extending property rights to a nonsensical place. Granted, I also have zero respect for people who think that trademarks, patents, and copyright are still working to promote rather than stifle the arts and sciences, so I can understand why my above sentiment might rankle.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- mulmen 2y agoOk please stop posting as darby_nine. I’d like my turn with that identity. I think it fits with some objectionable conspiracy theories I’d like to promote.
- hsbauauvhabzb 2y ago
- adr1an 2y agoWe can prevent this by paying the domain registrar ahead of time for N years. It's not a real solution, but it works (as good as any patch)
- robert_tweed 2y agoThis actually happened to me, but fortunately I never actually used the domain. I registered tweed.dev intending to use robert.tweed.dev as a personal blog. It wasn't classed as a "premium" domain and the first year was £5 or something IIRC, which was half price compared to the normal renewal fee. The next year they decided it was premium after all, and wanted to charge £492,000 for renewal. I still have a screenshot of that, although needless to say I don't own the domain anymore.
- wkat4242 2y agoCouldn't you just transfer it to another registrar? I guess they blocked that but I wonder whether icann allows them to do so. It's indeed ridiculous.
- tdy_err 2y agoIsn’t Google the .dev registrar?
- xelamonster 2y agoThey operate the registry, but are not a registrar (bad choice of terminology) since they sold off that part of their business to Squarespace. Unclear to me who actually raised the price here since you can register a .dev domain with many registrars. That's insane though, I assumed renewal prices were more or less locked in after you own a domain. Even the premium ones that go for thousands say they renew at the standard $12 or whatever.
- parineum 2y agoAnd if you're domain is really worth that much, you can sell it before it expires.
- mapt 2y agoSee also personal phone numbers, which are now "portable" and thus "required for every single identity verification you will ever perform", without being regulated, which means your identity is one $30 bill autopayment or one dodgy MVNO customer service interaction from being lost forever.
- astrange 2y agoNot regulated? They're portable because they're regulated.
- klingoff 2y agoI'd assume regulated in the sense of identity verification and transactions. There's no legal basis for needing a north American phone number, but good luck with any US obligations if you are without one.
- sneak 2y agoThankfully you can still get them without ID, for cash. Unlike in Germany, where you can’t get one without a passport or ID card.
- notpushkin 2y agoI’m wondering how feasible would it be to just use a SIM card from another country (e.g. in Estonia, you can get a prepaid card for 1 € that works in EU roaming just fine, with domestic-like prices on local calls). How many services in Germany require you to use specifically German number?
- XajniN 2y agoThe EU roaming thing usually works for 6-12 months until you are required to connect to the home network.
- 2y ago
- ossyrial 2y agoThere is an alternative to such regulation though. In the Netherlands, all registrars are required to support automatic transfer between registrars. You can lookup your "transfer code", which you can enter at a new registrar, and they will handle that your domain is transferred (with proper DNS etc) and your old subscription stops.
- ryan29 2y agoGP is referring to the registry, not the registrar. There's lots of competition between registrars, but the registries have a post-sale monopoly on all domains. Put another way, as soon as you register a .com domain, the only registry that can sell you a renewal is Verisign. If there weren't price controls, Verisign could increase the price of a .com renewal to $100 and there's nothing anyone could do but pay it. This whole thread back to the root is right. Verisign has a monopoly, you can never drop a domain once it's associated with your business, and all of it should be regulated like a monopoly.
- huskyr 2y agoYup. Think about what happened when the Internet Society almost sold the .org TLD to Ethos Capital and they were planning on raising the registration prices by a lot.
- ryan29 2y agoIf you really want to get upset, go look what the NTIA did with the 2018 renewal of the .com agreement. Prior to 2018, the US DoC had a significant amount of oversight and control. The 2018 renewal pretty much gave .com to Verisign. The only thing the US DoC can do now is renew the contract as-is or withdraw.