Mar 24, 2006 : Dot-Com Deal Opposition Grows

📅 March 24, 2006 - The Coalition for ICANN Transparency (cfit.info) reported this week that its opposition to the recent agreement between ICANN (icann.org) and VeriSign (verisign.com), which would extend the registry operator's control of the .com domain through 2012, is gaining momentum.


CFIT said this week that movement is gaining steam in Washington, as Flordia congressman Robert Wexler submitted a letter calling for the House Judiciary Committee to formally investigate the settlement between ICANN and VeriSign, looking for anti-business, anti-consumer and anti-competitive implications.

"I am deeply concerned," says Wexler's letter, "that the Department of Commerce is going to approve the assignment of control of the largest database on the Internet - the registry of '.COM' domains - without adequate time for review, public comment or government scrutiny required of a deal of this importance to global commerce and security."

Opponents to the deal say the extension is tantamount to giving VeriSign a monopoly over the .com domain market.

Last week, CFIT announced that it had filed an amended complaint in the US District Court in San Jose.