Elizabeth Warren fordert hartes Durchgreifen gegen das Internet-„Monopol“, von dem Sie noch nie gehört haben | Senator will untersuchen, ob VeriSign Kunden abzockt und gegen Kartellgesetze verstößt

They are, but they’re less relevant than in previous years 

Some of the main points from this piece:

>US Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Congressman Jerry Nadler of New York have called on government bodies to investigate what they allege is the “predatory pricing” of .com web addresses, the Internet’s prime real estate.
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>In a letter delivered today to the Department of Justice and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, a branch of the Department of Commerce that advises the president, the two Democrats accuse VeriSign, the company that administers the .com top-level domain, of abusing its market dominance to overcharge customers.
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>In 2018, under the Donald Trump administration, the NTIA modified the terms on how much VeriSign could charge for .com domains. The company has since hiked prices by 30 percent, the letter claims, though its service remains identical and could allegedly be provided far more cheaply by others.
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>“VeriSign is exploiting its monopoly power to charge millions of users excessive prices for registering a .com top-level domain,” the letter claims. “VeriSign hasn’t changed or improved its services; it has simply raised prices because it holds a government-ensured monopoly.”
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>…
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>The NTIA’s decision in 2018 to lift the price cap imposed on VeriSign also benefited ICANN, which in its role as overseer can reject price increases proposed by domain registry services. ICANN signed an agreement with VeriSign in 2020, sanctioning the maximum allowable price increases in return for $20 million over a five-year period. Thus, allege Warren and Nadler, “Verisign and ICANN may have a collusive relationship.”
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>In June, a coalition of activist groups wrote to the DOJ and NTIA to express similar allegations. “ICANN and VeriSign function as a de facto cartel, and the NTIA should stop sanctioning the ‘incestuous legal triangle’ that serves as a shield to deflect overdue antitrust scrutiny into their otherwise likely illegal collusive relationship,” the coalition claims. The group urged the government to “stop this cycle of exploitation” by refusing to renew the relationship between the NTIA and VeriSign.

It’s about time this issue was dealt with. Obtaining and then abusing a monopoly is beyond the pale. Yes, there are other TLDs but .com is still the defacto domain for many businesses.

Go get Akamai while you’re at it.

Downvote this all you want but: I haven’t paid for a cert in ages. I don’t see the fuss here at all. There are literally a dozen other monopolies/duopolies to go after. This one, the tech sorted itself out, and an out of touch senator is looking for press. End of story.

Edit: and if anyone wants to bitch about domain names: go after the squatters. There isn’t a .com left worth registering.