Why Is .EU Trying to Destroy the Internet?
November 20th, 2006Eurid, the operator of .EU, announced that it was cutting its wholesale price from 10 Euros to 5 Euros (about US$6.40 at today’s rate).
Is Eurid crazy? They’re cutting the price in half! Eurid is acting as if unit cost should go down as sales increase!
Haven’t they learned the lesson that ICANN, NeuLevel, Afilias, and VeriSign have labored for so many years to knock into our thick heads?
Domain Registry Rule #1: As you sell more domain names and your profit increases, prices should go UP
Otherwise, people might think domain names should follow economic laws and pretty soon we’d be able to buy them at near cost (my estimate: about 25 cents).
Domain Registry Rule #2: People must NEVER under any circumstances realize that domain names are mere database entries
Unfortunately, .EU is a ccTLD, over which ICANN has no pricing authority. So the tough ICANN negotiators who bullied VeriSign into a price increase for .COM have no leverage to stop Eurid’s reckless behavior.
Domain Registry Rule #3: If registry prices go down, the entire Internet may collapse immediately!
Luckily, Eurid’s price is still above the $6.00 price for a .com name, so there is still time to halt this precipitous slide into total anarchy.
This dangerous episode just proves what ICANN has been saying all along: that new top-level domains may threaten Internet security.
Domain Registry Rule #4: No New Top-Level Domains (unless we run the registry)
As of this writing, I still have an Internet connection. But with Eurid’s radical anti-Internet behavior, how long will it last?
Via DomainEditorial
Tags: Eurid, .EU, ICANN, VeriSign, Afilias, NeuLevel, domain name, domain registry
What are you talking about? This post is either intended as a dont-take-me-that-serious rant with some sort of sick sarcasm, or, at least that’s what I think, you have no idea about the operational structure and economics of the Internet. If ICANN ever worked for the benefit of the Internet, they’d have never approved the controversal contract with Verisign. Thank you for nothing, ICANN.
Steve | November 20th, 2006 at 6:42 am
Um, sick sarcasm, that would be it.
The clue, apart from the entire post, was the bit about ICANN bullying VeriSign into charging more.
Antony | November 20th, 2006 at 9:50 am
[...] [update] Great commentary by Antony from Names@Work. [...]
» EU registry lowers registration price (DomainEditorial.com) | November 20th, 2006 at 12:14 pm
Very very funny
Frank Michlick | November 20th, 2006 at 12:16 pm
Excellent post, you made me smile ; )
The economic model of the internet doesn’t necessarily follow offline economics… and that’s all fine with me.
Low prices translate into greater availability and therefore, a better chance at having a more diverse online landscape.
The more people own domain names, the better.
Claude Gelinas | November 28th, 2006 at 11:31 am