.COM Registry Fees to increase 7% per Annum
According to the Verisign Call yesterday, and a number of articles discussing the settlement of the Verisign vs. ICANN vs. Verisign lawsuit, not only has Verisign managed to get ICANN to agree to extend their registry deal to manage the .COM domain space from 2007 until 2012 in exchange for dropping the lawsuit, but also to increase registry fees per domain year 7% per annum compounded. This means that in 2012 all registrars will be paying $9.75 per domain year which is an increase from $6.25 today.
I wonder how all of the constituents will react at the Vancouver ICANN meeting where this has to be ratified. Add to this that it seems pretty clear that no real roadblocks have been put in place to provide an official green light to the Sitefinder service that started the lawsuit in the first place and you have to fight pretty hard not to shake your head in bewilderment.
