Go Daddy Software, described by its CEO Bob Parsons as VeriSign’s biggest customer, is leading the call to have the US government reconsider whether VeriSign is a suitable entity to run the .com and .net internet domains.
Go Daddy will today announce it has donated $100,000 to ICANN to help pay for its legal defense against VeriSign. The company has also written to several members of Congress and the Department of Commerce to ask for action to rein in VeriSign.
We believe VeriSign, because of the .com and .net registries, is a monopoly. In essence they control the internet, Parsons told ComputerWire yesterday. We believe they should never be left unchecked.
VeriSign sued ICANN last Thursday, saying the California non-profit has repeatedly overstepped the bounds of the narrow technical remit granted it by the DoC, and has been illegally regulating VeriSign’s new services.
VeriSign says its contract with ICANN does not allow the organization to delay or block registry services such as Site Finder, which caused controversy in September, or the two-year-old Waiting List Service proposal, which ICANN’s board will vote on this Friday.
Parsons said VeriSign’s motives for filing the suit are different: VeriSign says ICANN isn’t making decisions, but what VeriSign is really saying is that ICANN isn’t making the decisions VeriSign wants it to.
Go Daddy’s letter, published at RecallVeriSign.com, asks that ICANN reconsider VeriSign’s position as .com and .net operator, and that the DoC and Senate Commerce Committee conduct a similar review of the company.
Go Daddy also asks for a freeze on any new VeriSign registry services being introduced. Go Daddy’s business will be harmed if WLS goes live – the company has previously unsuccessfully sued ICANN to stop WLS.
A review of VeriSign’s role is essential to determine whether VeriSign’s profit motivations have become a driving force too overwhelming for them to resist, thus clouding their judgment about what is best for the internet, the letter reads.
Meanwhile in Rome, where ICANN is holding its quarterly stakeholder meeting, Tucows CEO Elliot Noss yesterday proposed a two-tier system of managing registries, one under which .com would be treated as a special case for greater oversight.
I believe .com should have more scrutiny, he said, pointing out that that domain is the runaway market leader. It’s not about VeriSign, it’s not about .net, it’s about .com and its position in the market today. In future, that might change.
Noss said he’s no fan of VeriSign’s lawsuit, but that he shares the company’s concerns that ICANN’s approval processes for new services should be more efficient. This would be best addressed inside ICANN, rather than the courts, he said.
This article is based on material originally published by ComputerWire
