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So let's get the players straight: In 2014 the Obama Admin decided to cede control of ICANN. ICANN is run like a classic Italian mafia org, with corruption at

by vxNsr 7y ago

So let's get the players straight: In 2014 the Obama Admin decided to cede control of ICANN. ICANN is run like a classic Italian mafia org, with corruption at every level and zero accountability. This year the Trump Admin rubber stamped a price increase on .com because.... reasons? The price of domains should trend down. not up. This is a classic case of regulation being abused by those in power to give each other a bonus. Running a global address book has gotten cheaper and easier with automation and yet we're allowing these orgs to just increase prices willynilly instead of trying to make internet hosting more accessible.

ebg13 7y ago
> The price of domains should trend down. not up. Why? The value of a dollar goes down over time, but the value of a domain does not.
- DailyHN 7y ago
  I'd bet Moore's law has outpaced inflation. The value of high-demand domain names should increase on the secondary markets. But, the price of unregistered names should be decreasing.
- Tepix 7y ago
  It's not about the value of the name, it's about the cost of running a TLD.
  - jandrese 7y ago
    The cost of running the system is trivial. Domains are more like real estate. They can become almost arbitrarily expensive on the global market because they represent a somewhat exhaustible resource of phrases that people can actually remember. As with any system where you have private resource owners controlling a basic need you should expect corruption and abuse of the customer base. From Water Barons to Landlords to Cable/Broadband companies the pattern repeats itself time and time again. This is why we have regulated industries.
    - vxNsr 7y ago
      But the governing org shouldn't be the one extracting that value. their job is govern and to some extent regulate. anything else is outside their domain.
      - jandrese 7y ago
        If not the governing org then who? It's not in the public interest to facilitate or encourage rent seeking. To the extent that price differences are inevitable in a market based system (where we assume the party most worthy of a domain is the one willing to put the most money into acquiring it), it only makes sense that the money be used for the public good.
- lostlogin 7y ago
  Who gives a TLD it’s value? I don’t think it’s ICANN.
- gmiller123456 7y ago
  >The value of a dollar goes down over time. Value and Cost are very different things. ICANN is a governing organization, and once they're allowed to extract funds greater than what it costs them to operate, just means they're abusing their power.
frandroid 7y ago
> The price of domains should trend down. Their value doesn't, so why should renewals go down?* It's not like registration is related to anything like cost of operation... *: I'm not in favour of this, but living in a capitalist market, I'm surprised things haven't gotten much worse, e.g. a sliding scale cost for domains, so Amazon would have to pay $50,000,000/year for its domain, for example.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- lostlogin 7y ago
  > It's not like registration is related to anything like cost of operation. It would seem like it should.
- freehunter 7y ago
  I was actually thinking about this the other day. Domains are too easy to get, and too cheap to hold on to. I like being able to go to Namecheap and buy a domain name for under $10... what I don't like is the hours or days I spend trying to find a domain name that isn't already taken and parked. And even if you paid $3k for that parked domain, it might now have years of history with search engines as a parked domain that you have to fight against. If ICANN really wants more money, they'd increase the renewal fee for parked domains every year until it's actually put into use.
  - gruez 7y ago
    >If ICANN really wants more money, they'd increase the renewal fee for parked domains every year until it's actually put into use. and how do you differentiate a parked domain from a non-parked domain?
    - davchana 7y ago
      Yeah, people always use domains for non-website purposes, like email etc with nothing coming up if browsed. Also, with no dns on main except cnames, which can not be easily found as easily mx or txt records can be seen on a gived direct domain.
mc32 7y ago
I think something like this should have remained within government. Deregulation here wasn’t necessary. It’s small but has outsized impact on how the internet works. That said maybe devolution was eventually inevitable.
- lostlogin 7y ago
  > something like this should have remained within government. I agree, but even that is far from ideal because which government should control it?
  - jszymborski 7y ago
    Maybe an organisational structure like the WTO?
    - killjoywashere 7y ago
      For the uninitiated, the World Trade Organization is run by its member governments. Unlike FIFA, IOC, and ICANN, it does not sell a product to consumers. It facilitates the production of laws and agreements between member states. If you buy Bueno de Mesquita's selectorate theory, the WTO has a very small set of residents, which is identical to the selectorate and the winning coalition. The FIFA, IOC, and ICANN have a very large set of residents, a very small selectorate, and a very secure winning coalition, which is a recipe for corruption.
      - mc32 7y ago
        What’s your take on something like the ITU? My first reaction would be that because there’s a lot more riding on it, it’d be susceptible to intractable politics... but maybe I’m overthinking it.
        killjoywashere 7y ago
        ITU is under the United Nations, so it's more like the WTO. I feel like that's the way ICANN should have gone, and it is probably worth it to just buy out the organization and put it under the UN. Either that or some version of decentralized DNS is going to start looking really attractive and ICANN will become the equivalent of a failed state.
FireBeyond 7y ago
> ICANN is run like a classic Italian mafia org, with corruption at every level and zero accountability. Was it ICANN that sued/was sued by one of its own _board members_ to not have to show them their finances?
unapologetic 7y ago
> In 2014 the Obama Admin decided to cede control of ICANN. > This is a classic case of regulation being abused by those in power to give each other a bonus. He dropped regulation and oversight, and the result is we now suffer because of regulation?

by vxNsr 7y ago

ebg13 7y ago

> The price of domains should trend down. not up. Why? The value of a dollar goes down over time, but the value of a domain does not.

DailyHN 7y ago
I'd bet Moore's law has outpaced inflation. The value of high-demand domain names should increase on the secondary markets. But, the price of unregistered names should be decreasing.
Tepix 7y ago
It's not about the value of the name, it's about the cost of running a TLD.
- jandrese 7y ago
  The cost of running the system is trivial. Domains are more like real estate. They can become almost arbitrarily expensive on the global market because they represent a somewhat exhaustible resource of phrases that people can actually remember. As with any system where you have private resource owners controlling a basic need you should expect corruption and abuse of the customer base. From Water Barons to Landlords to Cable/Broadband companies the pattern repeats itself time and time again. This is why we have regulated industries.
  - vxNsr 7y ago
    But the governing org shouldn't be the one extracting that value. their job is govern and to some extent regulate. anything else is outside their domain.
    - jandrese 7y ago
      If not the governing org then who? It's not in the public interest to facilitate or encourage rent seeking. To the extent that price differences are inevitable in a market based system (where we assume the party most worthy of a domain is the one willing to put the most money into acquiring it), it only makes sense that the money be used for the public good.
lostlogin 7y ago
Who gives a TLD it’s value? I don’t think it’s ICANN.
gmiller123456 7y ago
>The value of a dollar goes down over time. Value and Cost are very different things. ICANN is a governing organization, and once they're allowed to extract funds greater than what it costs them to operate, just means they're abusing their power.

frandroid 7y ago

> The price of domains should trend down. Their value doesn't, so why should renewals go down?* It's not like registration is related to anything like cost of operation... *: I'm not in favour of this, but living in a capitalist market, I'm surprised things haven't gotten much worse, e.g. a sliding scale cost for domains, so Amazon would have to pay $50,000,000/year for its domain, for example.

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
lostlogin 7y ago
> It's not like registration is related to anything like cost of operation. It would seem like it should.
freehunter 7y ago
I was actually thinking about this the other day. Domains are too easy to get, and too cheap to hold on to. I like being able to go to Namecheap and buy a domain name for under $10... what I don't like is the hours or days I spend trying to find a domain name that isn't already taken and parked. And even if you paid $3k for that parked domain, it might now have years of history with search engines as a parked domain that you have to fight against. If ICANN really wants more money, they'd increase the renewal fee for parked domains every year until it's actually put into use.
- gruez 7y ago
  >If ICANN really wants more money, they'd increase the renewal fee for parked domains every year until it's actually put into use. and how do you differentiate a parked domain from a non-parked domain?
  - davchana 7y ago
    Yeah, people always use domains for non-website purposes, like email etc with nothing coming up if browsed. Also, with no dns on main except cnames, which can not be easily found as easily mx or txt records can be seen on a gived direct domain.

mc32 7y ago

I think something like this should have remained within government. Deregulation here wasn’t necessary. It’s small but has outsized impact on how the internet works. That said maybe devolution was eventually inevitable.

lostlogin 7y ago
> something like this should have remained within government. I agree, but even that is far from ideal because which government should control it?
- jszymborski 7y ago
  Maybe an organisational structure like the WTO?
  - killjoywashere 7y ago
    For the uninitiated, the World Trade Organization is run by its member governments. Unlike FIFA, IOC, and ICANN, it does not sell a product to consumers. It facilitates the production of laws and agreements between member states. If you buy Bueno de Mesquita's selectorate theory, the WTO has a very small set of residents, which is identical to the selectorate and the winning coalition. The FIFA, IOC, and ICANN have a very large set of residents, a very small selectorate, and a very secure winning coalition, which is a recipe for corruption.
    - mc32 7y ago
      What’s your take on something like the ITU? My first reaction would be that because there’s a lot more riding on it, it’d be susceptible to intractable politics... but maybe I’m overthinking it.
      - killjoywashere 7y ago
        ITU is under the United Nations, so it's more like the WTO. I feel like that's the way ICANN should have gone, and it is probably worth it to just buy out the organization and put it under the UN. Either that or some version of decentralized DNS is going to start looking really attractive and ICANN will become the equivalent of a failed state.

FireBeyond 7y ago

> ICANN is run like a classic Italian mafia org, with corruption at every level and zero accountability. Was it ICANN that sued/was sued by one of its own _board members_ to not have to show them their finances?

unapologetic 7y ago

> In 2014 the Obama Admin decided to cede control of ICANN. > This is a classic case of regulation being abused by those in power to give each other a bonus. He dropped regulation and oversight, and the result is we now suffer because of regulation?