Which politicians support VeriSign’s lawsuit settlement with ICANN? It depends on whom bankrolls the politician…
CNET writers Declan McCullagh and Anne Broache published an excellent story about the VeriSign-ICANN settlement and how it is hitting Washington.
The US Commerce department must bless this settlement for it to proceed without complications. A hearing of the House of Representatives’ Small Business Committee on Wednesday showed a variety of opinions on the issue.
In the domainer’s corner:
“When you’re talking about increased prices and you’re allowed to do that at VeriSign, I don’t know that’s going to produce any better safety or security from anyone who’s paying that additional cost,” said Rep. Sue Kelly, a New York Republican. “And I haven’t heard anything today that tells me that would be the case.”
In VeriSign’s and ICANN’s corner:
It was no coincidence, then, that Rep. Cliff Stearns, the Republican chairman of a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee, wrote a letter to the Commerce Department on May 26 saying the settlement “is crucial” to international commerce. “We should insist on an environment that provides ample resources and long-term legal certainty for this vital part of our economy,” wrote Stearns, who has accepted money from VeriSign’s political action committee.
We live in a coin-operated society.
At the recent Domain Roundtable conference in Seattle, ICANN board chairman Vint Cerf defended the deal, saying that in the context of the litigation between the two parties he felt that ongoing negotiating would not result in a better deal.
Price hikes on the wholesale price of .com domains will certainly be passed on to consumers. Unfortunately, registrars have a thorn in their side when they bring up the issue of how this will impact small businesses. When VeriSign bid on the .net contract renewal and lowered the wholesale price of .net domains, very few registrars passed on the cost savings to consumers.
VeriSign has moved its spin machine into motion to defend the price hikes, saying they are necessary to maintain security on the internet. But if this was true, why would VeriSign have agreed to lower the price of .net registrations? Well, it was a competitive bidding process.
I personally have no problem with VeriSign retaining control of the .com registry. But the price hikes are entirely unwarranted.
Leave a Comment