IEDR : Robber Barons of the Internet

Ok, I did it, against all my better judgement I went an registered PutPlace.ie today. What did it cost?

€54.45!

You are having a laugh? Shurely, shome mishtake?

For comparision:

PutPlace.tv : €28.07

PutPlace.co.uk: €14.07 (for two years!)

PutPlace.mobi: €14.02

PutPlace.us : €5.60

But lets look at a comparable sized nation like Belgium.

PutPlace.be : €12.27

The only other country with a pricing policy as cracked as the IEDR seems to be Denmark, where the domains cost upwards of €40 euro.

And for what? The spurious value of having a “valid” .ie domain. Unfortunately not a single person outside of the staff at the IEDR and the poor saps like me who register domains have any clue that a .ie domain is any more “valid” or “genuine” than any other domain you might register. So the whole effort is wasted except that it fills the IEDR coffers with cash.

I would love to hear from anybody who has chosen to pay or not pay for a service based on the fact that the domain had .ie at the end of it?

Update: looks like Blacknight may be adding to the heat here,  Stephen McCarron of Hosting365 comments,

1. Stephen McCarron Says:
   October 25th, 2007 at 3:55 pm eHey Joe,

   I think you went to the wrong shop – we charge just €25.95 per year (ex VAT).

   www.register365.com