Are today’s topic on Capitol Hill — Domain names
The US Senate is discussing domain names today.
The US Senate discussed domain names today, counting arguments against VeriSign’s ability to hike prices 7% per annum. A CNET article highlights the discussions:
Sen. Gordon Smith, an Oregon Republican, questioned why VeriSign ought to have what critics have called a guaranteed perpetual income stream from .com domain registrations. The firm right now receives $6 per domain, or regarding $323.4 million a year, from .com fees alone.
In March, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN, granted VeriSign the right to raise prices it charges registrars like GoDaddy and TuCows for .com domains by 7 percent annually. A coalition of registrars has filed a federal lawsuit to block the deal.
Among those in Washington to testify was Christine Jones, general counsel for GoDaddy. She argued that, following the .net contract was put out to competitive bidding, the fee VeriSign collects for .net registrations fell.
Although I agree that the price hikes aren’t warranted, it’s easy for VeriSign to poke holes in GoDaddy’s arguments. If this is regarding helping consumers, why didn’t GoDaddy reduce the prices of its .net domain names when VeriSign lowered the wholesale cost? In fact, GoDaddy charges more for .net domains than it does for .com.
