|
"Verisign Retains Control of
Domain Name World"
By: Lee Hodgson
On April 2nd, ICANN - http://www.icann.org
- announced they had reached an agreement with Verisign Inc. about the future of dot com, dot net and dot org domain names.
To re-cap, Verisign Inc. runs the central registry for these domain names, through the
Network Solutions company which they solely own. Whenever one of these domain names is registered, you are dealing indirectly with Verisign Inc.
Originally ICANN had told Verisign that in order to retain control
of the central registry, Verisign would have to sell their lucrative domain registration business; i.e. they wouldn't be allowed to register names for end customers, only operate the registry for the other
ICANN-accredited registrars. With this new agreement, "Plan B" as it is called, Verisign has been able to change ICANN's mind, and keep their domain registration business.
How DID they pull off this
master-stroke? Quite ingeniously as it turned out. They have agreed to split the central registry into 3 distinct registries: one for dot com, one for dot net, and one for dot org.
Having done so, Verisign will
give up the dot org registry on December 31, 2002 and hand it over to a non-profit organization. This is interesting, because it indicates the future direction of dot org names. Dot org names were originally meant for
non-profit organizations, but under Verisign's control have really been open to anybody to register and use for any purpose. Once the non-profit organization takes over, it is expected that much stricter control will be
enforced, so that only true non-profit organizations will be allowed to register new dot org names.
It is too early to say what will happen to sites currently using dot org names not fulfilling the new
registration criteria. One possibility is that there will be a grace period for current dot org users to prove their credentials or switch to a dot com or dot net name. If you are planning to launch a new web site, be
careful about selecting a dot org name unless you are running a bona fide non-profit organization.
As for the dot net registry, this will remain with Verisign until January 1, 2006. There will then be a
competitive renewal process which Verisign will be allowed to take part in, so Verisign has a good chance of retaining control of dot net beyond 2006.
And what about the dot com registry, the jewel in the crown
of the domain name business, with more than 20 million names contained within and growing every day? Verisign shareholders will be pleased to know that under "Plan B", this cash cow to end all cash cows will
be remain under the
full control of Verisign until at least November 10, 2007. Beyond this date, Verisign will, in all likelihood, be able to renew the contract for another four years and beyond.
So bluntly
speaking, Verisign has obtained everything they wanted: They retain control of the dot com registry for the foreseeable future, and are also free to keep running their domain registration business, competing head-on
with the other 80 ICANN-accredited registrars. Whomever it was in charge of negotiating this deal on behalf of Verisign should be given a pay raise, if they haven't already.
###
If you are interested in
registering international domains, please visit our new service at: http://international.domainguidebook.com
For quality domain appraisals by domain professionals for just $14.95 visit: http://appraisals.domainguidebook.com |
