RE: Attention Hakon Haugnes

[Hakon Haugnes <hakon@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Dear Paul,

Thank you for your letter of 25 October 2005 and for the opportunity to
comment on the recent settlement between VeriSign and ICANN.

We are happy that ICANN and VeriSign have reached a settlement. This should
allow both parties to continue their work for the benefit of the Internet
without the inconvenience and strain of ongoing litigation, and can in our
view only be to the benefit of the Internet community.

We have with great interest read the proposed amendments to the contract of
VeriSign's management of .com, continuing the trend and form of the recent
new TLD contracts. In general, we believe that the Registry contracts should
have clarity, transparency and, within the appropriate framework of the TLD,
room for commercial manoeuvrability, ensuring a dynamic and responsive
Registry with regards to appropriate new services and offers.

In our view, favouring the renewal of the Registry contracts with existing
operators, and more generally, the overall simplification of the proposed
new Registry Agreements provide increased predictability and efficiency of
the operation of a gTLD registry. Especially for operators of smaller TLDs
like .NAME, this predictability is important.

We look forward to ICANN continuing its equitable treatment of registry
operators. The form of the recent agreements entered into with registry
operators will, we believe, also represent a significant improvement to the
proof-of-concept gTLDs, like .NAME.

GNR is a strong supporter of ICANN and its role and mission. We believe that
the settlement with VeriSign will strengthen ICANN and ultimately benefit
the Internet Community.


Sincerely,

Hakon Haugnes
Global Name Registry