March 1, 2006 – (HOSTSEARCH.COM) – With ICANN due to rule on its controversial revised “.com” settlement with VeriSign, US-based ICANN accredited domain name registrar BulkRegister (http://www2.bulkregister.com) has voiced “strong opposition” to the terms of the settlement, which it says, “differs little from the original settlement proposed.”
A press release distributed by BulkRegister suggests, “We believe the revised agreement will help VeriSign pocket a total of over $3 billion, result in domain price increases from $6.00 currently to $7.86 by 2012, meaning higher prices for consumers.”
The settlement enables VeriSign to raise “.com” domain registration fees by 7% in four of the next six years. As a result, the price VeriSign charges registrars for “.com” domain names will go up to $7.86 from its current $6. BulkRegister’s analysis of the revised VeriSign/ICANN settlement suggests the revised settlement will produce $3.29 billion for VeriSign by 2012. The new settlement also gives VeriSign ‘unprecedented’ control of the “.com” registry, allowing it to automatically renew its management without a bidding process, again until 2012.
