Dot-com domain control up for grabs

A vote will be held about who controls the master database of these top level domains. At issue is whether one single company - Verisign - will be allowed both to manage the registry and act as a registrar by selling the dot-com addresses on it.

The directors of Icann, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, will make the ruling.

When Verisign bought US government backed registrar Network Solutions in 1999, it agreed to sell off either its registry services or its registrar operations, to ensure competition in the domain name market.

But in a recent change of heart, the company has proposed to maintain its dual function for a further six years.

Stratton Sclavos, president and CEO of Verisign, claimed market conditions have changed since the original agreement was made. He told Vint Cerf, president of Icann, in a formal letter dated 28 February 2001: "It is easy to see that the importance of separating registries from registrars is less significant today than it was in 1999."

He cited Verisign's increased experience and growing competitiveness in the market as key factors.

The matter will be put to the vote later today. If Icann's board of directors rules against Verisign, the security software firm will have to sell its dot-com registrar business by 10 May 2001.

If Verisign gets its way, it will spin off its dot-org registry and dot-net registry by the end of 2002 and the end of 2005 respectively, but it will retain the right both to manage and to sell the addresses of the world's ebusiness sites.