Lastly, the regulatory framework recently changed with the approval at the end of 2022 by the European MPs of the NIS 2 Directive (Network and Information Security), aimed at strengthening cybersecurity. As in 2019, to bring itself into line with the status of OES, the registry will be undertaking costly work in early 2024 in order to comply with the Directive.
This moderate increase in fees for the .fr TLD will help safeguard the registry’s ability to deliver results and to invest. It will enable Afnic to withstand the inflationary context without having its operational activity called into question; to preserve the societal dimension in its choice of responsible providers; and to maintain its competitiveness in the employment market. Furthermore, it will allow it to continue to effectively combat abuse and to increase spending on security.
Many of our European counterparts have already increased their fees, within a range of 6 to 20%. The .fr TLD also remains competitive compared to .com.
Lastly, Afnic will step up its investment in actions of general interest, since it is committed to ploughing back 11% of its turnover into actions of this type. The same goes for the registry’s R&D capacity, for which the commitment is 10% of turnover.
Consequently, the increase in the fee of the .fr TLD will allow the registry to preserve its fundamentals, namely an Internet that is secure, green and stable, managed by qualified staff, in an environment that leaves plenty of room for dialogue and social progress.”