VeriSign closes in on .com stranglehold

Officials have hinted that the US Government will ratify VeriSign's deal with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann) to manage the lucrative .com domain at least until November 2007, and probably until 2011.

The .com domain accounts for around three quarters of the web's top-level domain names, making it by far the most valuable jewel in the registrar's crown.

Originally, VeriSign was also to keep control of the .net and .org domains until 2007, but US congressmen complained that this gave the company too much power.

Icann, the oversight board for internet names, then agreed a deal with VeriSign which laid down separate registry contracts for .com, .net and .org, with each one subject to individual terms.

Officials from the US Department of Commerce met VeriSign and Icann representatives for several hours on Monday to discuss the details, according to an Associated Press report.

In a statement, Department of Commerce General Counsel Ted Kassinger said that officials "are pleased with the progress and are confident an agreement can be reached in the near term". He did not say when the department would make its ruling or what conditions, if any, it might attach as part of its approval.

Brian O'Shaughnessy, a VeriSign spokesman, said that officials had suggested some minor changes, but nothing that would fundamentally alter the arrangements ratified by Icann in April.

That deal calls for VeriSign's control over .org to expire on 31 December 2002, and as part of the agreement the firm will not be able to renew the contract. Registration will instead be handed over to a non-profit organisation.

The .net agreement will expire on 1 January 2006, and will then be subject to a competitive renewal process in which VeriSign and all other interested parties will be able to participate.

But the .com domain contract is not due to expire until 10 November 2007, and it is likely that VeriSign will then be able to renew it for another four years.

VeriSign has also agreed to provide $5m to the non-profit organisation selected to operate the .org registry, and commit at least $200m of investment in research and development and infrastructure technology, including a universal 'Whois' facility.

It will scrap the $10,000 one-time fee charged to new registrars for initial access to VeriSign registries.