VeriSign and ICANN settle lawsuit

Stuart Corner
Wednesday, 26 October 2005 18:44

IT Industry - Strategy

VeriSign, has reached agreement to settle its lawsuit with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

According to VeriSign, the agreement "strikes the important balance of providing business certainty for VeriSign and other registry operators while ensuring that ICANN can play an effective and clearly established role as technical coordinator."

The agreement sets out a framework that "establishes processes and guidelines for the introduction of new services, provides business certainty for top-level domain name registry operators and embraces a sensible market approach to registry pricing."

VeriSign and ICANN also agreed to extend the .com registry agreement through 2012.

The agreement documents are being posted for public comment and are subject to final approval of the ICANN board. According to ICANN, the settlement will clear the way for a new and productive public/private partnership in coordinating technical management of the Internet's domain name system.

Paul Twomey, president and CEO of ICANN said: "This agreement settles many of the long-standing points of tension between ICANN and VeriSign. The settlement opens the way for a constructive and productive relationship between ICANN and VeriSign that will benefit the global Internet community, and further illustrates the benefits of a multi- stakeholder approach."

The proposed agreement outlines a clearly defined process for the introduction of new registry services in .COM. VeriSign agrees that all new registry services will be reviewed by ICANN prior to introduction through a transparent, defined and timely process.

Under the proposal, VeriSign and ICANN are agreeing to clear definitions and processes for review that further advance the stability and security of the DNS. VeriSign agrees to a new, clarified definition of registry services and agrees not to make changes to registry services without prior notice.

A standing panel of International neutral technical experts will review proposed changes to registry services for potential security and stability issues.

Competition issues will be referred to appropriate governmental competition authority/authorities; the proposed agreement clarifies ICANN's role and recognizes that determination of whether a registry's action is competitive or anti-competitive is an appropriate function of existing national bodies; and the agreement includes compulsory arbitration using the ICC (International Chamber of Commerce) in Paris.