Israel starts charging for registration costs

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.
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                  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 at 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 at 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.