The .net registry is up for grabs because VeriSign's registry
agreement with
ICANN, the body
that manages the internet's domain name system, expires on 30th
June 2005.
Five organisations applied for the job: VeriSign, which
controls .net and .com; Frankfurt-based DENIC; Afilias, currently
responsible for .info; the Sentan Registry, a joint venture between
the operators of the .jp and .biz domains; and CORE++, a global
consortium of domain registrars, registry operators and
telecommunications and networking technology companies.
ICANN was forced to name an independent auditor to supervise
the bidding process, in light of an ongoing antitrust battle
between ICANN and VeriSign, and in February appointed telecoms
software and service provider Telcordia Technologies to the
task.
On Monday Telcordia released its recommendations, announcing
that VeriSign had just edged ahead of its rival Sentan, achieving
an "exceeds requirements" mark in 14 high priority categories,
while Sentan managed this in only 12. Afilias came third, with
DENIC and CORE++ following.
"All of the vendors have the capability to run the .net
registry," says the Telcordia report. "The distinguishing
characteristics are largely differences in experience, risk, and
price."
ICANN has made the Telcordia report available for review by
the industry, and is now proceeding to negotiate the new registry
agreement with VeriSign.
The new contract, which will take effect from 1st July, is due
to run for six years.
