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| Jan 10, 2006 - NIWOT, CO -
Dear F. John: Thank you for contacting me regarding the legal settlement between ICANN and VeriSign. I appreciate hearing from you. On February 28, 2006, the ICANN Board of Directors approved a new .com registry agreement with VeriSign. Under the settlement, VeriSign will run the .com registry until 2012 (with a presumption that the agreement will be renewed beyond that date), and it will be able to raise domain registration fees by 7% in four of the next six years. This agreement must be approved by the United States Department of Commerce. The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation maintains oversight on how the Department of Commerce oversees ICANN’s activities. Though I am not a member of this Committee, rest assured I will continue to keep your views in mind should this matter be voted on by the full Senate. Again, thank you for contacting me. Sincerely, Ken Salazar United States Senator ----------------------------------------------------------- This is a re-write from Don Parsons, GoDaddy, President and Founder. He has voiced a significant concern to all .COM businesses. Verisign, a large security company in our industry, is trying to take over all control and future renewals, future pricing of .com web sites. A huge scam in the making. The .COM registry contract. VeriSign: Shame on you! Hang on to your wallet! There’s a scam in the works. If it happens, it’s going to adversely affect all of us. Yesterday, February 28, ICANN announced that its Board of Directors met and approved the pending deal with VeriSign for the .COM registry. The agreement will let VeriSign raise registration fees by 7% annually in four of the next six years. It will also give VeriSign control of the .COM registry indefinitely, as it extends VeriSign's "presumptive renewal" right when this agreement ends in 2012. The deal was approved by a majority vote, with nine voting in favor and five voting against. One director abstained. Vinton Cerf, who is the Chairman of ICANN and also now an employee of Google®, voted in favor of the give-away. Following the vote, Credit Suisse increased the price target on VeriSign stock. Their analyst describes the .COM registry as VeriSign's highest margin business (before any price increases). He goes on to say that the compounding effect of just the price increases could represent a net present value of $4 to $5 per share for VeriSign, or 1 to 1.25 billion dollars. The price increases will start in 2007. Go Daddy CEO and Founder Bob Parsons is voicing strong disapproval of this agreement. "The agreement is a bad deal for our customers and the Internet community as a whole," said Parsons. "The fact that this deal was approved is a loud signal that major changes are needed at ICANN. If we don't step up and overhaul ICANN, and leave the Internet largely under the control of this incredibly inept organization, this will go a long way in providing the United Nations with the ammunition it needs to start taking control of the Internet – that must never happen." From here, before the deal becomes final, the U.S. Department of Commerce will still need to approve it. If you are disappointed with this recent decision, consider writing a letter to your Senator and Congressperson. You can find the email address of your representatives at the following two Websites: For the Senate: www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm For the House: www.house.gov/writerep/ Here is a suggested form letter you might send to your elected representatives: Dear _________: I am very concerned about the recently revised .COM registry agreement and proposed settlement between ICANN and VeriSign. This pending agreement is anticompetitive and bad for consumers and the Internet community as a whole. The proposed agreement provides VeriSign with the ability to increase prices by 7% annually in four of the next six years without cost justification. Furthermore, under the new agreement, VeriSign's monopoly would run in perpetuity as the agreement would automatically renew without the opportunity for competitive bidding. This is an outrage. VeriSign and ICANN should not be allowed to establish a perpetual monopoly without Congressional oversight and the opportunity for input from the Internet community. The proposed agreement harms the Internet community by allowing unjustified price increases when fees for .COM domain names should be decreasing, not increasing. Even VeriSign last year agreed to drop fees by more than 40% for .NET domain names to win an extension of that registry agreement. There is no reason VeriSign shouldn't be implementing the same type of price decreases for .COM names, as well. As your constituent, I would sincerely appreciate if you would look into this agreement and ensure that VeriSign and ICANN are not allowed to go forward with it in its current form. If the ICANN Board approves this anticompetitve agreement, the next step is for the NTIA to approve. I urge you to also bring our concerns to the attention of the NTIA. Sincerely, _______________ |
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