VeriSign wins .com renewal, but can't hike prices

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-Excite

By ANICK JESDANUN

NEW YORK (AP) - The federal government has cleared VeriSign Inc. to manage the databases that house ".com" domain names for another six years, but the company won't be allowed to raise prices without approval.

Under the current contract, which expires Friday, VeriSign was guaranteed four price increases of up to 7 percent each on domain name registrations. VeriSign sought a similar guarantee as part of the contract renewal, but the Commerce Department rejected it. The new contract freezes the annual price at the current $7.85 per name, barring special circumstances.

"Consumers will benefit from VeriSign's removal of the automatic price increases," Lawrence E. Strickling, assistant Commerce secretary for communication and information, said in a statement. "At the same time, the agreement protects the security and stability of the Internet by allowing VeriSign to take cost-based price increases where justified."

Anyone who wants a ".com" name can obtain one from various companies, which pay VeriSign $7.85 of what they collect on each name. The new contract lets VeriSign continue receiving those fees, but won't guarantee more.

FULL story at link.


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20121130/DA2SK2IO1.html

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[davidpdx]

1. I know some people dislike Verisign

But one advantage of having the .com and .net registries here in the US is that if a foreign company tries to cybersquat or sell counterfeit products the US company can sue them in an American court if they can prove personal jurisdiction.

See GMAT vs. Raju 2003

[PoliticAverse]

3. Verisign isn't the only company in the US...

It's a good idea to keep .com in the US, but perhaps the contract should have gone out to
competitive bidding rather than to give Verisign this windfall.

[PoliticAverse]

2. Considering Verisign's history they shouldn't have gotten a renewal. n/t