Domain Holdings, has become the latest member of The Internet Commerce Association (the ICA) which is a trade group that represents and protect domain name holders and those with interests in the domain business.
Domainholdings.com has entered the ICA as a silver member which requires a annual contribution of $5,000-$9,999
I reached out to Alan Dunn of DomainHoldings to ask him why the company thought it was important to become a member of the ICA.
Here is their statement:
“”Joining the ICA was something we saw great value in. Over the years Phil, Nat and everyone involved with the ICA have made tremendous contributions to the industry as a whole. These contributions have resulted in millions of dollars collectively in savings, added ownership protections and more.
From the average Joe or Jill to large international companies the ICA has always performed with the greater good in mind and very few people work as hard and diligent as the ICA to help bring fairness and transparency to the domain name industry.
We (Domain Holdings) work hard to deliver great brands to our global base of clients and the ICA’s dedication to protecting these assets, improving industry openness and transparency and watching out for the rights of domain name owners is essential.
Domain Holdings is proud to be a donor to such an amazing group of people who have proven time after time they have everybody’s best interests in mind.
It’s very important to have a voice.
We are all in this together.””
Of course our company Worldwide Media, Inc. which publishes thedomains.com and owns around 80,000 domain names is a Gold member of the ICA and has been so for many years.
Domainsholdings.com joins Sedo, Rook Media, Nat Cohen Telepathy, Escrow.com, Reflect Publishing, PPX as Gold and Silver Members.
We urge everyone who has a vested interest in the domain community to join the ICA.
If you don’t know what the ICA has been up to please check out just some of the ICA’s achievements here
The ICA publishes a blog on issues of importance to all domain holders here.
I believe to my dying day if not for the ICA the cost of all of you .com registration would have continued to increase 7% a year, in every 4 out of 6 years based on Verisign previous contract with ICANN
However due to the efforts of the ICA and its members, the Department of Commerce renewed Verisign’s Contract to operate the .com registry with no price increases for the six year period starting with the last renewal of the contract in 2012.
UDRP reform is coming and the trademark owners think the system is unfair to them and want more protection.
There are a ton of trademark holders represented at ICANN meetings and the ICA is the only trade group representing you, as a domain holder against all of the big companies.
Its a true David Vs. Goliath situation.
If you are not able to join as a full member you still can contribute to the ICA’s effort by visiting http://www.internetcommerce.org/join and you can paypal as little as $100 which is the cost of a couple of new gTLD domain registrations or about 10 .com registrations.
Also a little common sense if your a domain holder you should do business with those that support your industry and stand up for your rights.
You can visit http://www.internetcommerce.org/ for all the info.
