Managers end Web names meeting

ICANN critics: http://www.icannwatch.com

Some board members of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers questioned a deal that its staff reached with VeriSign Inc. to extend the company's rights to run the master list for .com names.

Several members of the public also complained, saying the deal would undo two years of efforts to promote competition in registering domain names.

ICANN Chairman Vint Cerf scheduled an April 2 teleconference call to decide whether to accept the deal. Public comments are due March 31.

Domain names are key for finding Web sites and sending e-mail. The .com names are the most popular, with 21 million claimed. There are 4 million .net and 3 million .org names.

Any changes to the .com, .net and .org will not immediately affect how Internet users find Web sites.

However, .org could ultimately be off limits to companies and individuals, and the financial arrangements could affect how much people pay for domain names. Keeping track of the names is lucrative for VeriSign, which gets $6 for every name registered.

Currently, VeriSign can run databases of .com, .net and .org until 2007, but only if it decides by May 10 to split into two businesses: the registry, which handles the master databases of names, and the registrar, which lets users submit names to the databases.

Last month, VeriSign proposed an alternative. The company would avoid that split and get preferential treatment for any .com renewal, while relinguishing its grip on .org and .net earlier than scheduled.

If the board approves the changes, the deal would still need approval from the U.S. Commerce Department, which selected ICANN in 1998 to oversee domain name policies. Commerce, however, rarely objects to ICANN decisions.

Erica Roberts, a member of ICANN's Names Council presented a resolution Monday calling for more community consultation, The Sydney Morning Herald reported yesterday.

"There's a feeling of being bypassed and that views are not being taken into account," Roberts said.

Meanwhile, ICANN finalized steps for launching seven new domain names later this year: .biz, .info, .name, .pro, .aero, .coop and .museum.

The board authorized its new president, Stuart Lynn, to complete contracts for running those names without another full board meeting.

ICANN also named panelists and approved a budget to study at-large board members representing the general membership. The study committee includes Esther Dyson, ICANN's former chairwoman.

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