ICANN Being Sued (Again)
ICANN PR department seem to be working hard this morning, another ICANN story. BBC report of ICANN being challenged again over its handling of the .com domain. Basically Verisign had its .com agreement extended from 2007 to 2012. But details of the agreement suggest that the contract will be automatically renewed after that date, unless Verisign goes bankrupt or materially breaches the agreement.
The lawsuit filed by the World Association of Domain Name Developers alleges the deal creates a monopoly of the .com market.The agreement "provides for the automatic renewal of the agreement and thereby precludes competitors from ever entering the .com and .net domain name registration market", said the filing.
The filing also accuses the two sides of price-fixing, arguing that the deal allows Verisign to raise prices at double the rate of inflation.
Icann has yet to speak about the case, while California-based Verisign declined to comment on pending litigation.