Trade group challenges ICANN-VeriSign settlement

Iria · Nov 29, 2005, 03:13 PM

A trade group of Internet businesses challenged a proposed settlement over control of the .com domain as a violation of U.S. antitrust laws in a lawsuit filed Monday in a California federal court.

The World of Domain Name Developers group asked the court to stop the nonprofit body overseeing the Internet's addressing system--the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN--from allowing VeriSign to maintain control of the lucrative .com domain until 2012.

That proposed deal, reached in October, settled a long-running dispute between ICANN and VeriSign and is expected to be finalized by the end of the year.

The lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in San Jose on Monday, said the proposed settlement violates federal laws against price fixing and creates a monolopy of the .com and .net domain name markets.

Plaintiffs' attorney Patrick Cathcart said the settlement fixes the price of registering any .com or .net far above market rates. He also said terms of the settlement guarantee VeriSign annual price increases at double the rate of inflation.
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Read More / Source: News.com

Nov 29, 2005, 03:13 PM	#1
Iria DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 7,275 Rep Power: 87	Trade group challenges ICANN-VeriSign settlement A trade group of Internet businesses challenged a proposed settlement over control of the .com domain as a violation of U.S. antitrust laws in a lawsuit filed Monday in a California federal court. The World of Domain Name Developers group asked the court to stop the nonprofit body overseeing the Internet's addressing system--the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN--from allowing VeriSign to maintain control of the lucrative .com domain until 2012. That proposed deal, reached in October, settled a long-running dispute between ICANN and VeriSign and is expected to be finalized by the end of the year. The lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in San Jose on Monday, said the proposed settlement violates federal laws against price fixing and creates a monolopy of the .com and .net domain name markets. Plaintiffs' attorney Patrick Cathcart said the settlement fixes the price of registering any .com or .net far above market rates. He also said terms of the settlement guarantee VeriSign annual price increases at double the rate of inflation. ____________ Read More / Source: News.com