registries gTLD registries cannot legally change the pricing of renewals at their whim.

[robaireg]

this calls into question whether a domainer is an OWNER or a RENTER. (legally speaking) do you know? do you care to know? (I do) ...

if a gTLD registry (new extension administrator, ie: famous 4 media, donuts, uniregistry, or any of 12 other big ones) were able to change the annual pricing on ''selected domains'' that they personally felt were now ''premium'' (but weren't at the point of purchase) it would be the worst kind of business extortion. it would be predation. it would also be 100% illegal.

when you buy a domain you don't get an email saying ''thank you for renting this domain on a year to year basis'' ... you get an email saying ''thank you for your purchase''.

a purchase is where you buy something and then you own it. if someone administers a domain extension they do not own the domains they administer. ask ICANN about this and read the application that the registry submitted in order to run that domain, the ''serve the public with total and ongoing integrity language'' there is a lot of that language because public trust was a dominant factor in ICANN's awarding any extension ...

neither do they have any legal right to ''shake out'' owners from whom they would now like to ''steal back'' selected domains that they wish to own for themselves. the only way they could steal back domains from the rightful owners would be to massively raise the renewals on those selected domains. ANY court should see through such a transparent scam.

that would amount to theft plain and simple. so it gets back to the question- do you OWN your domain or do you rent it? from what I see all the language points to the fact you own it. the renewal fees are supposedly there to cover all admin expenses by the registrar ....and for a sweetener, ICANN ... ALLOWED THEM to set a premium price in selected products at the initial sale point. ONLY.

this is deemed legal because the buyer knows in advance what the yearly renewal will be, and ''caveat emptor''... if you don't like that fee, don't buy it. BUT ... once it is BOUGHT .....

1) curious that domainers have no national and international association to protect their basic rights. the way say, any other property owner would have such an association.
2) I propose the ..... DOMAINER PROTECTION ASSOCIATION. an international body with the sole purpose of looking after the legal rights of domain OWNERS. (not renters) funded by modest dues, say $ 5 per year for every domain owner deductible on the 1st purchase.

I saw the thread today where the q. is asked whether gTLD registries should be able to arbitrarily ''reset'' the renewal rates on any domain they see fit to ''steal back''. (because it would have just one purpose and that would be to steal it back)

the answer is no, that is 100% illegal and predatory. you cannot do stuff like that in a democratic society, otherwise you'd have legal extortion and theft. ''steal it by jacking the fee 10000%, and then give it to your buddies at the former cheap price again'' ..... . NO that is 100% illegal. and if they missed a ''good name'' that they 'should '' have made premium, then it is their omission, not the buyers.

I have heard instances of fee-price ''resets'' for say NN's... but only at the point of purchase, the day of purchase or 1 or 2 days after ... where the legal wording was already in place about the premium value of those domains.

in that case it was a tech-glitch that allowed those names through to sale at the regular price. but ... once it is bought and has a new OWNER ..... an owner not a renter ..... no way can you legally steal something back by resetting the annual fee at your own whim ..... . courts would (SHOULD) laugh at this, it is so predatory and transparently illegal.

domainers .... associate. band together. $5/yr. is not much. & it's overdue.

 

[brindle123]

I just noticed this at the very bottom of the email from Godaddy after a purchase today!

"Prices are current as of 1/29/2016 and may be changed without notice."

Again, I'm no lawyer but I think that means they can change on a whim!!!

 

[brindle123]

This is from the "Universal Terms of Service" from Godaddy. I'm sure that all registrars are the same or have similar Terms.

A) GENERAL TERMS, INCLUDING AUTOMATIC RENEWAL TERMS

You agree to pay any and all prices and fees due for Services purchased or obtained at this Site at the time you order the Services. All prices and fees are non-refundable unless otherwise expressly noted in the Refund Policy section below, even if your Services are suspended, terminated, or transferred prior to the end of the Services term. GoDaddy expressly reserves the right to change or modify its prices and fees at any time, and such changes or modifications shall be posted online at this Site and effective immediately without need for further notice to you. If you have purchased or obtained Services for a period of months or years, changes or modifications in prices and fees shall be effective when the Services in question come up for renewal as further described below.

Registries can legally change the pricing of renewals at their whim.

 

[DU]

I bought milk today. It was over $4 a gallon! And bread? It was $5!!

And Sirius dropped my favorite station without telling me.

I tell ya, Life Sucks.

 

[brindle123]

I bought milk today. It was over $4 a gallon! And bread? It was $5!!

And Sirius dropped my favorite station without telling me.

I tell ya, Life Sucks.

Look on the bright side....gas is $2 gallon!!!

 

[Grego85]

Look on the bright side....gas is $2 gallon!!!

But the price of gas is subject to change! Lets all quit buying gas!

 

[brandnow]

Drive electric vehicles. No gas from the pump needed.

 

[robaireg]

a reply from the Berkens blog that I like best :
(ps. thx to Kate for that link)

[quote ---> janedoe says (September 24, 2015):

Actually, from a legal standpoint (depending on jurisdiction, specifically as relating to consumer protection laws)
If you sell a product or service at an incorrect price, in this case with a renewal fee stated below that intended, you are obligated to honour that renewal fee as it constituted a part of the decision process to buy.

Now a vendor may have the opportunity to remove a product/service PRIOR TO THE EXCHANGE OF MONEY but once money has changed hands, options may be far more limited as A CONTRACT HAS BEEN ENTERED INTO

Of course this is where you would point to your Terms and Conditions (the TOS) as a “get out of jail free card”

Except, depending on a countries consumer protection laws, Terms and Conditions that aim to remove the rights of the consumer MAY BE DEEMED INVALID AND UNENFORECEABLE

Further to this, by offering your product/service into a country, you may be held liable by that countries consumer protection laws irrespective of where you are located

(to the posting by the Registry rep) : You state that M did not pay additional fees.
However, the domain names were paid for with the expectation of a set renewal price that was stated up front.

The failure to alert M and provide full disclosure and the opportunity of a refund is the big problem here, especially in light of the washing of one’s hands approach due to the inability to communicate directly with the customers, being reliant on the middleman which again, depending on consumer protection laws, wouldn’t hold up.

The options available are…

1. Leave things as they are. (Which is the option you are currently pursuing)

2. Refund the fees paid to correct the error, which was an option when you discovered the error (your big contention being that M as a domainer had a year to sell the domains and so would in effect be profiting…except if he had sold them based on the erroneous belief as to what the renewal fees were, he could in turn have faced a lawsuit for misinforming any potential customer who acquired the domain name)

3. Honor the renewal rate originally quoted (not something you obviously want to do, but dependent on consumer protection, specifically as regards M’s location, something you might be legally required to do. Said consumer laws might allow a price hike over the original quoted renewal fee, though said protections might place limits on what an acceptable price rise is. This being where you would need to ask your lawyers regarding the situation.) ----endquote] ​

the TOS is a document made up by in-house attorneys from a general merchandising template. they adjust and tweak this TOS template to best suit their own position. the TOS is always going to be a vague document in actual legal terms. the merchandise law that applies to all transactions is ALWAYS going to override any TOS drawn up by a private vendor who may put in conditions that might run counter to the actual laws of any country.

one of the features of all merchandising law is that once you enter into a sales agreement, you have to honor the conditions of that original agreement without changing the terms later on.

so in the case of a domain sale, you have to make sure, if you are the vendor , to price your product correctly, because if you do not, if you miss pricing some ''good names'' correctly, you have no recourse later on to ''change the deal'' to better suit your needs. so price it correct at the point of sale because once you accept the customer's money, that's it, it's done and you can't tweak things later where it was not written into the deal at the time of sale.

''we reserve the right to alter the terms of this sale'' is not a valid legal statement despite that the company's own attorneys wrote it into the TOS, is in not legally valid to do that or even to imply it. also writers of all TOS need to do as best they can to respect the actual laws they work under. this lessens the chances for disagreements and misinterpretations later on. (TOS are implications & not necessarily the way law works in that case.)

 

[brindle123]

''we reserve the right to alter the terms of this sale''

You can trust a JaneDoe with your legal advice or just read your contract that you agreed to when you purchased the domain. That contract that you agreed to is a legally binding contract no matter what your feelings are on the matter! Ask any real lawyer that before taking advice from a JAneDoe.

Go read your contract and come back and post a quote that says they can't change the renewal fee.
I bet you can't.
If you do, I'll pay for your next .com renewal!

 

[GlenPhillips]

Thank you for posting this!