Thank you for your interest in the Internet Commerce Association (ICA). The ICA is a non-profit trade association dedicated to ensuring that the ownership rights of domain owners are respected and protected. The ICA fulfills this mission by educating other concerned groups about the legitimate rights of domain owners, by engaging in the policy development process at ICANN, by monitoring and responding to legislation affecting the domain industry proposed in Washington, by submitting filings in judicial proceedings where necessary, and by taking any other actions needed to ensure a secure environment in which the domain industry can thrive. The ICA’s mission supports domain registrants, domain service companies, registrars, registries, and anyone hoping to build an online business with confidence and predictability.
The ICA is a volunteer-run organization that depends on contributions from the domain industry to fulfill its mission. Contributions of any amount are welcome.
Contributions to the ICA may be partially tax-deductible. Please see details below.
All membership levels include access to ICA email alerts and other important updates from ICA counsel and membership, the ability to participate in ICA policy and priority decisions, the ability to vote in board elections, and the opportunity to highlight your support of domain owner rights with ICA Member website seals and your logo in the Member section of the ICA website.
Membership also gives you the opportunity to demonstrate to investors and dispute arbiters your commitment to the ICA Code of Conduct.
Additional benefits are available to the more senior membership levels. Not all membership levels are available to corporate members (those with 20 or more employees). Please contact the ICA for additional information.
The ICA also accepts donations of any size and those contributing $500 or more will receive an ICA Donor website seal.
We may also be able to accept donations of domain names. Domain name donations may have tax advantages that can be explored with your accountant. Please contact us if you are interested in donating a domain.
Volunteering your time can be just as valuable as contributing money. The ICA needs help with membership outreach, fundraising, social media distribution and administrative efforts. Consider putting your talents to good use by supporting the ICA.
Support those who are making the domain industry better for all of us by supporting those who support the ICA. Look for the ICA Member badge and consider directing your business to those businesses who support the ICA. For those businesses who already support the ICA, let them know that you appreciate their support. For those businesses you deal with who don’t yet support the ICA, let them know that you prefer to work with businesses that are joining in the industry wide effort to protect our domain name assets.
As a volunteer-run organization, you can be assured that 100% of your contribution goes to pursuing the ICA’s mission. Our lean-and-mean approach means that every dollar spent supporting the ICA is another dollar helping domain owners team to counter the IP community’s narrative against domain investors specifically, and domains generally, by setting forth accurate information about our industry and working for recognition and preservation of domain registrant rights. Any amounts collected in excess of our operating budget will be devoted exclusively to the projects and purposes as decided by members, such as commissioning white papers to support ICA positions, the creation of a domain defense fund, hiring of additional staff, etc.
The ICA’s success and future depend on your support. For any membership questions feel free to contact our Executive Director, Kamila Sekiewicz, at kamila@internetcommerce.org.
For individuals and businesses with less than 20 employees you can use PayPal. For Gold and Platinum memberships please send a paper check or wire transfer, for details click here.
PayPal Account: info_ica@internetcommerce.org or through the One-Time or Annual Subscription buttons below:
Individuals can join the ICA through an Individual Membership. Individual Memberships are $600 per year, or as a PayPal subscription for $50/month. Individual Memberships are only available for individuals in their personal capacity, not to businesses or organizations.
One-Time Donations
Account Name: Internet Commerce Association
Bank Name: Bank Of America
Bank Address: 3401 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington, DC 20008
[Please contact us for routing and account information]
Communication for bank transfer: ‘Your organization name- ICA Fees’
International Wires should use the BIC/ SWIFT-Code: BOFAUS3N
and can provide this bank address:
Or if by check, please make payable to INTERNET COMMERCE ASSOCIATION and mail to:
Internet Commerce Association
PO Box 4999
Washington, DC 20008
ICA operates as a Business League under Section 501(c) (6) of the Internal Revenue Code. United States residents cannot deduct membership dues or contributions (such as donated domain names, or the proceeds of the auction of such names) as a charitable contribution for Federal income tax purposes. However, for U.S. tax law purposes, dues and donations to a business league (including non-cash donations) are generally deductible as a business expense, except for that portion that is devoted to lobbying and political campaign expenditures. The ICA does not anticipate incurring any political campaign expenditures in 2012 and estimates that the portion of dues and donations devoted to nondeductible lobbying expenses as defined in U.S. tax law will be in the range of 10-20%. ICA is required to provide its members with an estimate as to the percentage of members’ dues that were devoted to lobbying expenditures during each tax years. ICA has typically devoted 15% of it expenses to nondeductible lobbying expenses.
The above general information may not be relied upon as tax advice, and any affected ICA member or donor should consult with the member’s own tax adviser regarding the proper treatment of their ICA support under the tax laws of the U.S. or any other nation. In particular, affected ICA members should consult with their tax advisers as to whether the excess of the auction sale price for a donated domain name, over the member’s cost for the domain name, should be reported as income or gain to the member for U.S. Federal income tax purposes.