WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Commerce has approved a deal between VeriSign and ICANN that gives the Mountain View, Calif.-based company continued control over the lucrative .com top-level domain until 2012.
The deal, which was hammered out by representatives from ICANN and VeriSign in March, went to the Commerce Department for approval. Although ICANN has moved toward independence, the Commerce Department retains oversight authority for the Marina del Ray, Calif.-based organization that oversees the Internet’s address infrastructure.
Under the terms of the deal, VeriSign will continue to administer the .com TLD until 2012, but the Commerce Department will need to give final approval to any proposed price hikes.
The contract gives VeriSign the right to raise prices in four of the six contract years. But increases are capped at 7 percent in any one year, and the company must give six months notice before raising the price.
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration, an agency within the Department of Commerce, which handled the deal on the behalf of the U.S. government, said VeriSign’s contract would only be renewed after 2012, “if the approval will serve the public interest.”
The .com TLD is by far the most popular on the Internet. There currently are 59 million domains registered which use the suffix.
In the months leading up to the agreement, ICANN was criticized for allowing VeriSign to administer the .com TLD for so long. The company has handled .com since 1999.
Network Solutions Vice President Jonathan Nevett said VeriSign shouldn’t get automatic contract renewals, pointing out that the company was well on the way to establishing a permanent monopoly on the popular TLD. He also was critical of what he called lapses in VeriSign security.
Officials at VeriSign said the deal should address criticism leveled at ICANN while continuing to strengthen the growth of the Internet.
“The registry operator framework ICANN has adopted and embodied in the .com agreement strengthens the security and stability of the Internet relied on by hundreds of millions of people around the globe,” VeriSign Vice President Mark McLaughlin said. “This framework holds operators accountable for their performance, promotes the continued investment of tens of millions of dollars in the infrastructure and provides important safeguards for consumers.”
