Since I brought up the point previously, and since it was discussed in Lisbon (I was unfortunately not able to attend), I guess I should show what we have done in Israel in this regards. Below is a document that has been circulated. One of things I think that has helped acceptance of this policy is the 'alternatives' section at the end. Perhaps other countries might want to use this as a model if they fall into the same boat we have. Comments? Thanks, Hank P.S. Machba is the name for the association running the Israeli network which is called ILAN. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Machba Internet Registration Fees October 1994 --------------------------------- Background ---------- In 1992 Machba was requested by the government to allow non-university organizations to connect to the network. Only during the period of 1993 did the government subsidize the connection of educational, cultural and R&D organizations that wished to connect to the Internet. At the start of 1994, Machba presented a request to the government to charge for registration services it was providing. These were to be one time costs for registering various Internet "entities" such as domain names or IP addresses. The costs were to range from $50-$200. The government committee along with the Ministry of Communication requested to see how much it would cost to subsidize this registration process. Machba presented a request for $25,000/yr which would cover all costs. This followed the model as in Belgium, France, Norway, England, Spain and Italy where the government funds the operation of Internet registration services. After a period of 9 months and continuing to present free registration services for Israel, Machba has been informed that the request has been turned down. It is therefore necessary for Machba to start charging effective October 15, 1994 for Internet registration services. Who does this affect? --------------------- This mainly affects Internet Service Providers in Israel and organizations not connected directly to Machba via a leased line. These fees are one time only and are not recurring. What are the new registration fees? ----------------------------------- - Any organization wanting a class C IP network will be charged $50 per class C network assigned. - Any organization wanting a domain name assigned in the .il domain will be charged $50. For secondary name service there is an additional $50 fee. A site wanting primary and secondary name service will be charged $200 per domain. - Any organization that wants ILAN to handle inverse domain name registration will be charged $30. - Any organization that wants its IP network to be routed globally will be charged $200. Ramifications ------------- Previously, organizations or individuals not connected to the Internet where not allowed to register a domain name. Now, any person or organization can secure a domain name for a $50 one-time fee. Once the organization or individual gains connectivity to the Internet, they will already have a domain name reserved for them. Alternatives ------------ For IP addresses, any Internet Service Provider can join the RIPE NCC in Amsterdam and obtain a block of addresses and perform the registration directly with them. The yearly fee to join RIPE is 2000ECUs (approx. $2500/yr) for small ISPs. Contact ncc@ripe.net for further details. For inverse domain names, any organization owning its own IP address can perform the registration of an inverse domain name directly with hostmaster@internic.net. For global routing of an IP address any IP service provider that has obtained a license from the Ministry of Communication can order its own leased line to abroad and route traffic directly rather than via Machba. For domain name registration under the .il structure there is currently no alternative but to contact Machba. ISPs in Israel that wish to cut down their costs in this area should set up their own primary and secondary nameservers. Machba is willing to "handover" the management for various subdomains to any organization that wishes to handle the registration function (gov.il, co.il, org.il, k12.il). This "handover" must be ratified by the Ministry of Communication as well as all other active Internet Service Providers in Israel.