Repeals Obama-era 'price controls'

The price of joining the elite web address could be going up.

The National Telecommunications & Information Administration (NTIA) has agreed to modify its agreement with domain name registrar Verisign that will allow it to boost prices for .com domain names, but not to vertically integrate—say, merge with a web content supplier.

That came in an extension of the six-yea.com registry agreement.

Also part of the agreement, said NTIA, is "a new commitment to content neutrality in the Domain Name System (DNS)....Verisign will operate the .com registry in a content neutral manner with a commitment to participate in ICANN processes. To that end, NTIA looks forward to working with Verisign and other ICANN stakeholders in the coming year on trusted notifier programs to provide transparency and accountability in the .com top level domain."

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The new agreement repeals the domain name "price controls" under the Obama Administration said NTIA, which is the chief communications policy adviser to the White House.

"Specifically, the flexibility permits Verisign to pursue with ICANN an up to 7% increase in the prices for .com domain names, in each of the last four years of the six-year term of the .com Registry Agreement," said NTIA.