US Department of Commerce Ensures Competitiveness and Stability Are Protected in New ICANN-VeriSign Agreement - domain name registration - Brief Article

Information Superhighways Newsletter, July, 2001

The US Department of Commerce (DOC) approved new agreements between the Internet Corp. for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and VeriSign on domain name registries for .com, .net, and .org. They revise agreements that have been in place since November 1999.

"Our goal throughout the negotiating process was to make sure consumers reap the benefits of an open, stable, and competitive Internet. These agreements achieve that goal," said DOC general counsel, Ted Kassinger. "We sought changes to promote competition, preserve stability, and protect consumers. We believe that our objectives have been met."

The following principles will be included in definitive contracts:

- VeriSign agreed that DOC's approval does not give the company antitrust immunity with regard to these agreements.

- As an additional precaution to ensure the integrity of the firewall between VeriSign's registry and registrar businesses, VeriSign will be subject to annual independent audits, which will be submitted to ICANN, the DOC, and the Department of Justice. A summary of these audits will be made public to ensure transparency.

- VeriSign's .net registry agreement will now expire on June 30, 2005, unless data indicate competition in the registry or registrar market is not growing and meeting established goals. (A specific set of indices will be used to measure competitiveness.) If completion goals are not met, VeriSign's registry agreement for .net could expire as early as November 2003. When VeriSign's .net agreement expires, operation of the .net registry will be opened for competition.

All other terms of the agreements between VeriSign and ICANN remain unchanged. The agreement follows a month-long process of careful scrutiny by the Commerce Department of draft revised agreements presented by ICANN and VeriSign on April 16, which resulted in changes that reflect the department's paramount concerns: to ensure stability and competition.