C26. State the maximum price you propose for each Registry Service identified in item C25.

The DotOrg Foundation, along with its operating partners, is committed to stable, efficient and affordable management of the .org registry.  It is also committed to delivering an improved registry without increasing the price for the registry service.  

In accordance with the Foundation's nonprofit purposes, its Directors, Officers and management intend to carry out an effective stewardship of the registry that fully meets the expectations of ICANN, of the existing and future community of .org domain name holders, and of the Internet community generally.  See Question C35 and Attachments A1 and A2 for background information on the DotOrg Foundation, its articles of incorporation, bylaws, Officers and Directors.

All funds realized from registration services that are not required for stable and efficient operation of the registry will benefit the .org community through carefully constructed programs of outreach and development.  See Questions C27 and C38 for discussion of preliminary program development plans.

At present, after several years of management by Network Solutions/VeriSign, which has provided limited information on key business variables and costs, it is impossible to build with any degree of certainty a precise financial model for future operation of the registry.  However, the DotOrg Foundation has been able to draw upon the experience of its registry services provider, Registry Advantage, a division of Register.com, and upon Kintera’s experience in marketing to the nonprofit sector, in order to forecast sufficiently to provide for the maximum price and potential price decreases.

The DotOrg Foundation and its operating partners believe that .org registrants, particularly the noncommercial registrants, should enjoy a price reduction if one is warranted by economies available to a nonprofit registry operator.  Therefore, the DotOrg Foundation had included in its initial business plan a registry price reduction.  However, since many important – and missing – variables, including the level of demand, the costs associated with transition, thick Whois, higher registry Service Level Agreement standards, and increased marketing and outreach activities, may affect the Foundation's ability to offer a price reduction while maintaining a high quality, secure and stable registry, the maximum registry price to which the Foundation agrees to be bound in its agreement with ICANN will be the existing price of $6 per name per year.

The DotOrg Foundation’s goal of providing a stable registry built to improved registry standards, and accompanied by increased outreach to the noncommercial sector will be continuously balanced against the goal of reducing registry fees in order to provide the optimum registry solution that meets ICANN’s criteria for a successful .org registry.  The DotOrg Foundation will consult with its Advisory Council and ICANN, and gather recommendations from the .org community in order to make pricing decisions that allow it to reach these goals.

All prices listed here are registry level prices charged to the registrars.  The registrars will determine the prices to registrants, including the registration fee, the lower registration fee if the registry fee is lowered, and the validation fee.