ICANN proposal would halve country code domain fees

IDG News Service - The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) may temporarily halve the fees paid by country code top-level domain registries to encourage them to enter agreements with it.
ICANN has to increase its income to cover the almost $8 million it needs next year, according to its budget, released Saturday and corrected yesterday. ICANN is the body that oversees Internet domain administration, IP address space allocation and root name server management internationally.
ICANN's funding comes from generic top-level domain registries and from those country code domain registries with which it has an agreement, based on the number of domains registered within each top-level domain. It also receives contributions on a voluntary basis from other country code top-level domains. Since relatively few country code domain registries have agreements with ICANN, those that do pay a disproportionate amount, ICANN said. This then acts as a disincentive for others to enter agreements.
Country code top-level domains include .uk (for the U.K.), .fr (for France) and .tv (for the tiny Pacific island nation of Tuvalu); generic top-level domains include .net, .com, .org, .gov, .info and .biz. Other domains can be registered within these, such as idg.net or icann.org.
Country code top-level domains contain a growing percentage of registered domains, at 38.4% as of Feb. 1, up from 32.1% on March 1, 2002, according to ICANN estimates. The country code domain registries are therefore an important potential source of revenue for ICANN. In fiscal 2003-04, however, ICANN expects to receive only $601,000 in voluntary contributions from the country code top-level domain with which it doesn't yet have an agreement. Based on the country code domains' fair share of its costs, these registries should pay $3.7 million, it said.
ICANN therefore proposes to halve the fee allocation per country code domain, increasing the amount paid by generic top-level domains, in the hope of encouraging more to sign up, it said. The reduction would need to be reconsidered each year, it said.
ICANN is being renamed ICANN 2.0 and is establishing a pilot outreach program to developing countries. The program aims to explain ICANN's policies, procedures and benefits to developing Internet communities and governments. The organization is also trying to improve the way it receives public comment on its activities and is putting together ombudsman and independent review programs to help resolve domain disputes. ICANN plans to hire an additional 15 to 17 staff members -- six to reach its agreed level of 27 for fiscal 2002-03, and 9 to 11 more for fiscal 2003-04, itsaid in its preliminary budget announcement.
Base expenditure is expected to rise $2.3 million to $7.6 million for the year.

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