[council] Comparison of licencing approaches - ".com" versus ".au"

[Bruce Tonkin <Bruce.Tonkin@melbourneit.com.au>]

For the information of council members, I thought I would compare the
licencing fee methods of ".com" registries and registrars versus the new
methods for ".au".

A ".com" registrar pays a fee that includes a fixed component and a variable
component.
The ".com" registry agreement also allows a fixed and variable component.

At present the registrars pay around 95% of the total licence fees for the
registry and registrar.  The total licence fee (fixed plus variable) is set
by the ICANN budget, and divided amongst the registrars based on their size
(measured in terms of total number of names under management).


For ".au", a ".au" registrar pays the regulator (auDA) a fixed fee of around
$3000 per annum (irrespective of size).
A ".au" registry pays a fixed fee, as well as a variable fee set at a fee
per domain name registered in that year (currently set at $10 per domain
name).  Domain name licence periods are fixed at 2 years.  

The ".au" model is closer to charging a fee per registrant than the ".com"
model.
In both cases the legal agreements are between the regulator and the
registrars and registries.

The issue is really the method for calculating the variable component of the
licence fee, rather than on whether the registrant pays the fee.  

The registrant pays for a service from the registrar.  The registrar has
many business costs which include the ICANN licence fee but also other fees
such as ISOC membership etc.

The registrar pays for a service from the registry.  The registry has many
business costs which include the ICANN licence fee but also other fees such
as ISOC membership etc.


Regards,
Bruce Tonkin