Verisign drops anti-trust lawsuit following Icann agreement

Internet Business News, Oct 25, 2005

INTERNET BUSINESS NEWS-(C)1995-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD

An anti-trust lawsuit against the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann) has been dropped, following a settlement to allow directory provider Verisign to retain control of the .com domain until 2012.

A dispute arose over Verisign's Site Finder website, with claims from rival companies that Verisign was abusing its position as the .com domain name administrator and concerns over net stability expressed by Icann. If web users entered a .com or .net domain that contained spelling mistakes or was not registered, they would be taken to Verisign's website rather than being shown an error page.

Verisign's service was suspended in October 2003 following pressure from Icann - the company later launched a lawsuit against Icann, stating it had no power to stop the site finder service, and Icann counter-sued. Verisign controls both the 35m .com domain names and nearly 6m .net domain names currently in use, making USD6 per year for each of the .com domains.

The agreement extends Verisign's maintenance contract for the .com domain names database from 2007 to 2012 and establishes a formal review process allowing Icann 90 days to express any concerns relating to new services. Under the agreement the "registry service" definition is revised to cover Site Finder and ensure that Icann's prior approval is needed.

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