ICANN, the body responsible for the internet’s domain naming
system, is obliged by earlier agreements to renew VeriSign’s
control of the .com registry when the existing agreement expires in
November 2007 – so long as the registry satisfies criteria set out
in that agreement.
The new deal will permit VeriSign to increase the price of
domain name registrations by 7% in four of the next six years. In
the two remaining years VeriSign will only be able to raise prices
if it can show that the rises are necessary for security
reasons.
VeriSign has also been given another presumptive right to
renewal of the .com registry, on the proviso that it complies with
clarifications on the use that it may make of traffic data, new
service-level specifications for the .com registry, and revised
powers of approval granted to ICANN in respect of possible new
registry services.
ICANN's Board voted 9 to 5 in favour of the agreement with one
director abstaining. The US Department of Commerce has still to
approve the deal.
"If approved, this settlement will clear the way for a new and
productive relationship between ICANN and VeriSign facilitating
ICANN’s stewardship and technical coordination of the internet's
domain name system,” said ICANN, announcing the vote.
But critics argue that the agreement will adversely affect
competition. In an open letter sent to ICANN in February, eight top
registrars, including Network Solutions, GoDaddy, Register.com and
Melbourne IT, argued that VeriSign should be forced to justify any
price increases, or have them reviewed.
The registrars called for the renewal of the .com registry to be
by means of a competitive rebid of the contract, pointing out that
VeriSign would be locked in as registry operator “without the
counterbalance of a competitive bid process”. At present, the .com
domain registry controls 85% of the US market,
"Voting in favour of a bad deal doesn't change the deal's
dynamics, it just confirms ICANN's refusal to listen to legitimate
criticism coming from every corner of the internet community,” said
John Berard, spokesman with The Coalition for ICANN Transparency
(CFIT), a group opposed to the deal.
