1&1 Leads Opposition of ICANN/VeriSign Draft Proposal for .com Domain Administration

Registrars Say Plan Would Undermine Competition, Raise Prices for End-Users

PHILADELPHIA, November 29, 2005 – A draft proposal between the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and domain registry giant VeriSign, Inc. that would give VeriSign exclusive control over the .com domain, is being vigorously opposed by a group of notable domain registrars led by 1&1 Internet, who claim the plan harms competition within the Internet industry and could negatively impact end-users worldwide.

1&1, along with almost all major domain registrars (companies who register Internet addresses on behalf of their customers with registry organizations like VeriSign), is critical of both the content of the proposed agreement—which, among other things, would allow VeriSign to arbitrarily increase domain fees up to seven percent per year—and the manner in which it was drafted.

“The current draft of the agreement practically assigns .com to VeriSign forever,” said 1&1’s Domain Expert Eric Schaetzlein, who will present the registrar community’s concerns to ICANN at its meeting this week in Vancouver. “This contradicts ICANN’s core mission to promote competition in the Internet industry, which was established in its own by-laws and in the Memorandum of Understanding with the U.S. Department of Commerce.”

According to Schaetzlein, 1&1’s and the other domain registrars’ biggest concern with the proposal is the effect that the potential seven percent annual fee increases could have on global Internet users, and the fact that VeriSign can implement the price hikes without justification. Web hosts and registrars would be forced to pass on the fee increases to individual domain registrants.

“Under the terms of the current contract, which is in place until November 2007, VeriSign is required to justify any price-increase, and ICANN has to give its approval,” Schaetzlein explains. “The new wording would be a major step back. Additionally, when VeriSign had its registry license for .net renewed earlier this year, interestingly enough, a major component of their application was a significant lowering of the registration fees.”

Adding to the registrars’ skepticism about the draft contract for the administration of .com is the fact that it is part of the settlement of various legal disputes between VeriSign and ICANN in which VeriSign has agreed to withdraw all charges.

“We think that ICANN wanted to protect itself from possible cost risks and problems with this settlement rather than act in the best interest of both the Internet community and the general public,” said Schaetzlein.

More than 30 domain registrars worldwide have signed a statement against the draft contract, demanding major changes in the current proposal (which can be viewed at www.icann.org). Additionally, the companies have asked ICANN’s board to comprehensively review the VeriSign settlement proposals and to hold a public hearing period—as has been common practice with other ICANN-related issues—that enables the community of Internet users to state their concerns.

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Journalists: For a copy of the domain registrar constituency’s official statement of the on the ICANN/VeriSign settlement proposal and a complete list of signatories, please contact 1&1’s U.S. PR Manager David Donati at 610-560-1538 or david.donati@1and1.com.

About 1&1 Internet

1&1 Internet Inc. is a subsidiary of United Internet, a profitable public company with 4,700 employees and a market cap of $2 billion. 1&1 was established in 1992 and has registered more than 5 million domain names, while 32,000 servers run on the company’s four state-of-the-art data centers. 1&1’s global community is 4 million customer contracts strong. The company’s U.S. headquarters is located in Chesterbrook, PA. For more information, please contact the company at www.1and1.com or 1-877-461-2631.

1&1 Internet Inc. is a subsidiary of United Internet. All other logos, company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

Customer Contact: Media Contact:

1&1 Internet Inc. Dave Donati
701 Lee Road U.S. PR Manager
Suite 300 1&1 Internet Inc.
Chesterbrook, PA 19087 press@1and1.com
Telephone: 1-877-GO 1 AND 1 (1-877-461-2631)

Fax: 610-560-1501