HORSHAM, U.K. - s4story -- You may think that once you've bought your domain name, you have a measure of security. You know it's an annual cost, but you also know that any increase is not normally that big.

But think again. Because the cost of some domain names has risen massively during the last few months and may continue to rise by as much as 10x your current payment.

Why?

Up until recently, there was an agreement between ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers - the organization that oversees the international domain name system) and the organisations responsible for the internet extensions .org and .info,[MH1] [LP2] [LP3]  which prevented these providers from increasing their prices by more than 10% each year.  That agreement has now ended.

Similar changes are anticipated for.biz domains and although at the moment .com and .net domains are still protected with a price cap agreement, these agreements will also expire in 2024 and 2023 respectively.

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If your domain name is affected, the Public Interest Registry will be able to charge whatever price they want, possibly with particular price hikes for "premium" quality domains. And if you can't afford to keep your domain name, someone else could buy it.

One business owner's experience

Business owner Mark Hickman explains what happened to him:

"My domain name for my hosting business  https://www.affinity.hosting/ used to cost about £43 a year. Out of the blue, my renewal notice said the cost had gone up to £499.99! This sort of increase is unsustainable for some businesses and it would appear there is nothing to stop my provider from increasing the cost again next year."

What can you do about it?

Unfortunately, your options are quite limited. If you are about to launch a business and or website or buy a new domain, think very carefully before you buy. UK registered domains are governed and protected from price increases by Nominent.  Nominet are also going to raise prices of .uk domain names but only by 4%, making this a much more affordable option.

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Your provider has to give you a minimum of six-months' notice of any price increase. Therefore, you should consider renewing your registrations for as many as 10 years within that notice period before any price increase takes place so you can lock in your current costs.

Alternatively, depending on the nature of your business, you might change your domain name. There are costs and risks in such an approach, so weigh it up carefully. Another option might be to get a .UK extension. Find out more about how to do that by visiting www.affinity.hosting and asking the chatbox or emailing Simon King at info@review.cards.