Relations between the two organisations have been
frosty since VeriSign's surprise launch of the controversial Site
Finder service in September 2003.
The service redirected surfers to VeriSign's Site Finder search
engine when they entered a web address that was not registered on
the internet or was inactive. It was heavily criticised at the
time.
ICANN stepped in and, in the face of a threatened court action,
VeriSign agreed to suspend the service. It sued five months later,
alleging that ICANN had overstepped its contractual authority and
improperly attempted to regulate VeriSign's business in violation
of its charter and its agreements with VeriSign.
The case was later thrown out, but was subsequently re-filed in
a California court. In the meantime, ICANN countersued.
Monday's agreements, which are still subject to the final
approval of the ICANN board, provide for the settlement of all
existing disputes between ICANN and VeriSign, coordination of
planning where appropriate, and a commitment to binding
international arbitration to prevent any future disagreements from
resulting in costly and disruptive litigation.
Under the proposals, VeriSign will recognise the authority of
ICANN and agree to a clearly defined process for the introduction
of new registry services – including the prior approval of ICANN.
The registry will also be granted control of the .com domain until
2012, and allowed to raise prices by 7% a year from 2007.
"This proposed agreement settles many of the long-standing
points of tension between ICANN and VeriSign,” said Paul Twomey,
President and CEO of ICANN. “The settlement opens the way for a
constructive and productive relationship between ICANN and VeriSign
that will benefit the global internet community, and further
illustrates the benefits of a multi-stakeholder approach."
