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A dispute over the cost of internet domain names has spilled over into the US Congress, where allegations of monopolisation and unreasonable price hikes surfaced in a congressional hearing on Wednesday.
The dispute arises out of a lawsuit settlement reached on 1 March in which the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann) gave VeriSign the right to raise fees on dot-com domains by seven per cent annually. The settlement, approved by Icann's board by a 9-5 vote, ended a legal spat that started with VeriSign's controversial move to take control of all unassigned dot-com and dot-net domain names in 2003.
Those guaranteed price hikes struck some members of the House of Representatives' Small Business Committee as unreasonable. Rep Sue Kelly, a New York Republican, said: "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. And I haven't heard anything today that tells me that would be the case."
While Icann - which was created by the Clinton administration - makes most decisions about domains on its own, the March settlement needs to be approved by the US Commerce Department before it becomes final. That requirement has politicised the dispute, with registrars that sell dot-com domains and must pay the higher prices trying to gain ground in Washington against VeriSign, which has a far more muscular lobbying operation.
During Wednesday's hearing, domain registrars attacked the deal as a way to let VeriSign milk consumers for the foreseeable future.
Full story: silicon.com
The dispute arises out of a lawsuit settlement reached on 1 March in which the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann) gave VeriSign the right to raise fees on dot-com domains by seven per cent annually. The settlement, approved by Icann's board by a 9-5 vote, ended a legal spat that started with VeriSign's controversial move to take control of all unassigned dot-com and dot-net domain names in 2003.
Those guaranteed price hikes struck some members of the House of Representatives' Small Business Committee as unreasonable. Rep Sue Kelly, a New York Republican, said: "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. And I haven't heard anything today that tells me that would be the case."
While Icann - which was created by the Clinton administration - makes most decisions about domains on its own, the March settlement needs to be approved by the US Commerce Department before it becomes final. That requirement has politicised the dispute, with registrars that sell dot-com domains and must pay the higher prices trying to gain ground in Washington against VeriSign, which has a far more muscular lobbying operation.
During Wednesday's hearing, domain registrars attacked the deal as a way to let VeriSign milk consumers for the foreseeable future.
Full story: silicon.com
