ICANN has no price caps on how much a new domain registry can raise prices. I assume this will be an issue raised at future meetings.
For now, they can raise domain prices as much as they want when they want. They can also do registry clawbacks and mark you domain as a premium after the fact.
Right @samuvuo but as I pointed out ICANN has no price caps or protections for new domains in place. ANY new gTLD domain registry can raise prices when they want however much they want.
I would be suprised to see Donuts introducing similar price hikes. They have raised prices 50% for “commercially interesting” gTLDs, but the prices have still been under $100. But you are quite right: there should be a price cap.
Domain registration for ubuntu-mate.community expires in Jan 2019. If the renewal price has gone up, I’m sure we can raise the money as a community. No need to ditch a well established domain name.