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.
