Removal of Price Caps for .ORG and .INFO Found Improper by IRP

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Removal of Price Caps for .ORG and .INFO Found Improper by IRP

By CircleID Reporter
January 10, 2023, 9:45 am PST Views: 12,264 Add Comment

After a prolonged legal process involving multiple hearings and months of consideration, an independent review panel (IRP) determined that ICANN had violated its own bylaws and articles of incorporation through its decision to remove price caps on certain top-level domains (TLDs) and that this decision was therefore invalid.

Following unsuccessful attempts for a direct settlement, Namecheap, a domain name registrar, challenged ICANN’s decision to remove price caps for .ORG and .INFO domains via an IRP (Independent Review Process) on February 25th. The IRP, which acts as an arbitration panel, provided Namecheap with the ability to challenge ICANN’s decision which they believed violated their own bylaws and articles of incorporation as they have ignored over 3000 public comments against removing the price caps.

“Removing the price cap on .ORG and .INFO would likely lead to unchecked price increases in those TLDs and others,” says Richard Kirkendall, Namecheap CEO. “The IRP’s decision verifies what we’ve been saying all along. The way ICANN removed price caps was improper and violated its own bylaws. ICANN must be more transparent and listen to economic experts and public comments moving forward.”

To ensure transparency and accountability, the Panel has recommended that ICANN’s Board of Directors take a more informed approach in making decisions related to removing price caps.

By CircleID Reporter

CircleID’s internal staff reporting on news tips and developing stories. Do you have information the professional Internet community should be aware of? Contact us.

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