The cost of registering domain names is on the rise, with the first price hike for .com and .net domains since ICANN first implemented the existing system 8 years ago. VeriSign will be increasing the cost of registering a .com by 7% and a .net by 10%, currently at $6 and $3.50, respectively. A minor increase, for sure, but one that will affect many people and is a bone of contention to many:
VeriSign's move isn't without controversy. The Mountain View, Calif., company controls the master database of both domains and as such has a monopoly on .com and .net registrations. The dispute over the cost of domain names even made it to Capitol Hill.
VeriSign of course defends the price hike, citing increasing difficulty in protecting the .com and .net infrastructure along with massively increased DNS queries over the previous 8 years. Warranted or not, the fee increases are here to stay.