According to Radio New Zealand International blog, the country of Tuvlau which owns the rights to the .TV ccTLD, is not happy with the deal it has with Verisign.
According to the Finance Minister of Tuvalu’s, Lotoala Metia says the country isn’t getting enough money from the US company which bought the dot-tv internet domain off it.
As you know the .TV registry is operated by DotTv, a VeriSign company, which pays Tuvalu about $2 million US dollars a year for use of the name.
The Minister went on to say that VeriSign should be paying more for use of the name but says the company is playing hardball.
“We are negotiating but we are tied because of the agreement that was signed before us. We cannot negotiate for an increase until 2016. Counter offers have been made but they are not acceptable to the government of the day. So we have to stick to our guns now. They’re giving us peanuts.”
Obviously not much the country can do now but once 2016 rolls around all bets are off.
Something to keep in mind as you invest in the extension
It will be interesting to see what happens when / if they renegotiate their contract.
I wouldn’t lose much sleep over it though. Unless they completely pull the zone it won’t have that much impact on registrants or registrars.
Sounds like worst case is an increase in price at the registry if Verisign pass costs on to users. No doubt they will 🙂
But I do think Tuvalu have the right to go for a little more than 2 mil a year, especially as the extension is growing.
Verisign will do whats in their own self interest – which is keeping their money spinner of an extension that is finally showing some momentum.
They may be playing hardball, but that is because they play poker on weekends.
Tuvalu needs a big gun domain broker to negotiate the contract renewal and get them a fair deal.
All smart domainers are already aware of the legal risks involved with .tv registrations. Most experienced of them did not invest a penny because of such a pricing threat.
Thanks for the post Senor Berkens 🙂
If they signed a contract for a specified amount, then they should honor the existing contract. They can renegotiate when the contract expires.
Why have the milk when you can have the cow?
Can’t they just nationalize their asset?
Locomo
I think they probably have lots of options in 2016.
I own .Tv domains as well so I’m concerned as well.
Better to have the information than be surprised
They do have one current option. Contract or not, IANA can re-delegate the TLD if the government complains and it is determnined that the TLD is not serving the best interests of the government and the local Internet community. It would be interesting to see how much weight the contract would be given in that context, but the contract most certainly does not bind IANA nor prevent re-delegation.
The government’s position here is stronger than you might think.
John
Well that should make anyone holding any .TV domains feel at least a little uneasy.
Maybe if they re delegate they will delegate to an reasonable organisation that will drop premiums for holders of old enom premiums 🙂
I doubt they would pull the registry out from under every .TV holders.
Probably worst case for end users is some instability in pricing. But hey, maybe if the registry changes hands new managers will see $25 renewal as too high? 🙂 Wishful thinking?
Tuvalu has been saying this for years, I first reported on this in 2007. They want more money but the extension has not done as well as they think from a numbers standpoint. They also got some bigger money upfront, I have the original doc from the Tuvalu govt that shows what they made. Will look for that and post Michael.
John where I have the utmost respect for you but I think that notion is a little off. First off there is no local internet community in Tuvalu. Secondly the money from Verisign has paid for many things including roads in Tuvalu, they would be hard pressed to show the gov has not benefited from the relationship.
That $2M/year translates into about $162/year per Tuvalu inhabitant. If a company wanted the .us registry at that rate it would cost them about $48 billion/year. I don’t think Tuvalu is getting such a bad deal.
Of course as .TV surpasses .com…
OH MY LORD… I’ve got one of those!!!!! (.tv’s)
Someone, bail me out… QUICK!
🙂
Just kidding.
Interesting read, though.
Aron
RH, I did not mean to suggest that any conclusion would be foregone. The point is that IANA is not bound by the Verisign contract. Whether the contract has been a net benefit to Tuvalu would be a factor to consider.
Scary news for anyone with $$ tied up in .TV, and a caution flag for owners of other ccTLDs.
As the first CEO of .tv, I worked closely with the government to make them as happy as possible with the iron clad deal they had made. As the government turns over, on average, once a year, it was not an easy job. Part of the pitch that every potential new Prime Minister gives is that he will get more for the TLD. AS a result, they are always in the press trying discussing the issue.
The bottom line is there is a contract, and ICANN has a long history of upholding the contracts. Case closed.