Bob Parsons , owner of domain registrar GoDaddy.com, blogged about an impending dot.com scam between ICANN and Verisign.

VeriSign has somehow persuaded ICANN to propose a new contract where VeriSign will be the permanent and unregulated controller of the .COM registry. VeriSign would also get the right of presumptive renewal. This means when the new contract for the .COM registry comes up for renewal in 2012, it won’t be put out for bid – like the .NET contract was in 2005 – instead it will simply renew in VeriSign’s favor.

… Not only will the .COM registry contract never again be put out for bid, but VeriSign will also have the right to raise prices, in its sole discretion, up to 7% per year in four of the next six years. So they can raise prices by up to 28% over the next six years.

That’s about 31% when compounded annually.

Half a decade ago, we’re all stuck with expensive $35-a-year top level domains. Competition and technological advancement has reduced that price to just below $10 a year (I’m even seeing ads for domain deals of less than $2 per year!). But this deal smells foul of scam.

If you are in the states, go help out and follow Bob’s suggestion to email your representatives.

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