GoDaddy.com tries to return VeriSign case to ICANN
GoDaddy.com, the largest Internet domain registrar and hosting company, and numerous other registrars are reportedly petitioning the U.S. Department of Commerce to deny final approval of the controversial .com registry agreement with VeriSign.
GoDaddy.com, the largest Internet domain registrar and hosting company, and numerous other registrars are reportedly petitioning the U.S. Department of Commerce to deny final approval of the controversial .com registry agreement with VeriSign.
The controversial agreement, which was approved by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), would give VeriSign control of the .com top-level domain until 2012.
Go Daddy and the other registrars want the deal sent back to ICANN to be reworked in a way that is “fair and equitable.”
“We will not sit back without a fight,” GoDaddy.com CEO and founder Bob Parsons said in a published report. “This deal is outrageous. It’s monopolistic because it locks in price hikes and eliminates good old-fashion competition. It’s a mistake (DoC) Secretary (Carlos) Gutierrez can stop.”
ICANN, the body responsible for the internet’s domain naming system, and VeriSign, recently settled pending legal action, which led to a renewal of VeriSign’s contract to run the .com registry.
The new deal permits VeriSign to increase the price of domain name registrations by 7 per cent in four of the next six years. In the two remaining years, VeriSign will only be able to raise prices if it can show the rises are necessary for security reasons. It also gives VeriSign a “presumptive right” to renewal of the .com registry, providing it complies with certain aspects of the agreement.
Last month, ICANN’s board voted 9 to 5 in support of the agreement, with one director abstaining. Now it is facing calls to reconsider.
The 19 firms petitioning ICANN claim the deal will have adverse consequences that are “far-reaching and permanent.” They say ICANN has failed to implement appropriate controls on .com registry pricing – and has also failed to provide adequate regulatory oversight. They are asking ICANN to reconsider as a result of new information coming out of a recent investigation by the Department of Justice into the registry market.
“The failure to consider material information concerning the potential adverse effects that the settlement would have on competition is contrary to ICANN’s core values and would be harmful to consumers,” the joint filing says.
ICANN has been working to settle the lawsuit with VeriSign since 2004.
In his blog on the GoDaddy website, Parsons expresses extreme dissatisfaction with the agreement, as drafted, and also criticizes Vinton Cerf, one of the Internet’s creators and a top executive at Google (News - Alert), for being among the nine ICANN board members who voted in favor of it.
“To my extreme disappointment, Vinton Cerf, who is the Chairman of ICANN and also now an employee of Google, voted in favor of the give away,” Parson’s wrote. “Mr. Cerf’s vote seems, on the surface, to be a very ‘un-Google like’ thing to do.”
“The fact that this deal was approved is a loud signal that major changes are needed at ICANN,” Parsons said. “If we don’t take this opportunity and step up and replace the incredibly inept leadership at ICANN, it will go a long way in providing the United Nations with the ammunition it needs to begin taking control of the Internet. The United Nations must never gain control of the Internet.”
Parsons is asking for support in the effort to get the agreement back before ICANN. Not only does he ask registrars and anyone who cares to write their Congressman about the matter, he even provides a standard form letter which can be used. The form letter reads as follows:
Dear _________:
I am outraged about the recently approved .COM registry agreement and settlement between ICANN and VeriSign. This agreement is anti-competitive and bad for consumers and the Internet community as a whole.
The agreement provides VeriSign with the ability to increase prices by 7% annually in four of the next six years without cost justification. Furthermore, under the agreement, VeriSign’s monopoly would run in perpetuity as the agreement would automatically renew without the opportunity for competitive bidding. VeriSign and ICANN should not be allowed to establish a perpetual monopoly without Congressional oversight and the opportunity for input from the Internet community.
As your constituent, I want to make you aware that the ICANN Board has approved this anti-competitive agreement on February 28th, 2006. The next step is for the NTIA to approve the deal. I urge you to bring our concerns to the attention of the NTIA.
Sincerely,
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