Comment on ICANN-VeriSign settlement proposal
I am opposed to the proposed settlement agreement as written. I feel that it stifles competition and hurts the entire Internet community. Any settlement must make it clear that VeriSign does not own .com. Additionally, it must encourage the creation of more competition in the industry, not less. Fixed terms for the administration contracts and predictable pricing structures need to be extended to all registry administrators. Further, ICANN has to clear the path for registries to compete, by regularly re-bidding registry management contracts and creating new generic top-level domain administrators. As a result, this will drive registration fees lower, rather than higher as proposed in the pending settlement, which will benefit everyone, not just ICANN and VeriSign. Paul C. Lawler Pacific Telecommunications Council Honolulu, Hawaii |