[ga] Other articles re DOC response

["Ken Stubbs" <kstubbs@dninet.net>]

FYI



Commerce Threatens to Weaken NSI's Grip

By Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, July 10, 1999\; Page E1

The Clinton administration got tough with Network Solutions Inc. yesterday,
warning that the Herndon company could lose its right to assign and manage
many types of Internet addresses, the company's chief source of revenue, if
it does not do more to open its now largely monopolized business to
competitors.
The company responded that it is working to bring on competition and would
\"exercise all legal remedies\" if the government tries unilaterally to
cancel its registration business.

The unusually blunt and public admonition from the Commerce Department comes
as it attempts to negotiate details for ending the firm's lucrative monopoly
over the address-assignment business. For years, the company had exclusive
rights to register Internet addresses that end in \".com,\" \".org\" and
\".net,\" but promised last year to let other companies enter the business
starting this summer.

In exchange for that commitment, Commerce agreed that Network Solutions
(NSI) could retain control over some key management functions on the global
computer network, including the operation of a master database of addresses
in the .com, .org and .net \"domains.\" That arrangement was viewed by many
industry analysts as a significant victory for NSI.

Five companies are preparing or have already begun to compete with NSI on a
test basis\; full-scale competition has yet to begin. Commerce and NSI have
been unable to agree on specific terms for changes in their \"cooperative
agreement\" that would bring about that competition.

The company contends that a new nonprofit corporation set up at the
government's behest to oversee the technical issues surrounding competitive
domain registration is too powerful and secretive. Critics of NSI, however,
argue that the firm is delaying so it can continue to reap monopoly profits.

The Commerce Department delivered yesterday's warning to NSI in a 32-page
letter to Rep. Thomas J. Bliley Jr. (R-Va.), the chairman of the House
Commerce Committee, who had sent a letter to Commerce Secretary William
Daley last month criticizing the role of the nonprofit corporation, the
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN.

Commerce's general counsel, Andrew J. Pincus, wrote: \"We believe that the
functions now performed by NSI under the Cooperative Agreement could be
reassigned through a recompetition of those tasks. Upon such reassignment,
NSI would cease to have any legal right to provide [address assignment and
management] services, unless it won the competition.\"

Pincus wrote that Commerce could take such a step if it cannot reach an
agreement with NSI. Among the key sticking points are the fee NSI wants to
charge rivals to manage addresses in the master database, NSI's refusal to
sign a contract with ICANN and NSI's claim that its \"white pages\" listing
of current address holders does not have to be shared with firms that want
to compete with NSI.

Commerce contends that NSI's proposed fees are too high and penalize those
who want to switch to rival firms. The department also argues that the white
pages database should be shared with competitors.

The company maintains that many of ICANN's contractual terms, including a
provision that it can cancel the agreement with only two weeks' notice, are
excessive. NSI also argues that it owns the white pages database because it
created the information.

NSI spokesman Christopher Clough said having another company take over NSI's
address registration and management functions \"creates serious security and
stability issues\" for the Internet. \"They could technically disconnect 5
million Internet addresses,\" Clough said.

Should Commerce take such a step, he said, NSI \"would exercise all legal
remedies.\" The company believes that its original agreement with the
government, signed in 1992, gives it the right to continue operating the
three domains into the future. \"We think it's inconsistent for Commerce to
contemplate this,\" Clough said.

Under the preliminary cooperative agreement, rival firms were supposed to be
able to start offering domain registration at the end of June. Technical
glitches in tests and the ongoing negotiations have delayed the process,
which now is not likely to begin for several more weeks.

Commerce also used yesterday's letter to voice its displeasure with some of
ICANN's recent moves that have generated criticism from many Internet
activists and business leaders. The department urged ICANN to eliminate a
$1-per-year fee it decided to impose on every address registered, and not to
make any decisions on how it will finance itself until its board of
directors gets elected members.

Commerce also urged ICANN to open its board meetings to the public and told
the group that it should respond to fears among some Internet users that it
aims to move from being a technical management organization to a regulatory
body for Internet content and commerce.


* 1999 The Washington Post Company